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Copyrighted 192 1. 



APR -4 1921 



©CU608989 

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This little book 

is dedicated to 

our dearest Saviour 

on the 



In loving and grateful 

Remembrance 

of His pledge — 

"And him that cometh to me 

I will in no wise cast out." 



'''My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of 
this world, then would my servants light, that I should not be 
delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence." 



We are born for love — It is the principle 
of existence and its only end — 

— Ben Disraeli. 



Love thyself last: Cherish 
those hearts that hate thee. 

—Henry VIII. 



A LOYAL LOVE. 

"Well, boy, glad to see you." 

"I am just as glad to see you, Dad. It seems a 
long time since I was under your hospitable roof. How 
familiar this old den of yours does look! I wish I had 
one like it." 

The first speaker was the Reverend J. J. Forsyth. 
He was the rector of the Church of Saint John in the 
parish of West Parting, which church he had served for 
forty years. He was a genial old man, but something of 
a Tartar withal. A man of the old school, broad in his 
views, elastic in his conscience, with always a sympa- 
thetic ear for suffering or sorrow, he was generous and 
hospitable. 

His church was a fine old building of Norman archi- 
tecture. His rectory, which stood within a few feet of the 
church, was one of those dreams of architectural beauty 
that we sometimes see in unexpected places, with gables 
and mullions and lattices poking out through the ivy, 
proclaiming their age and feasting the eye. It was sur- 
rounded with five acres of glebe land, and the gardens 
and the orchard were quite in keeping with the house. 

The old rector was fond of good living, of the good 
things of life, and, in fact, was very comfortable. His 
wife was a most estimable woman — quite the right woman 
in the right place, and very popular with all her hus- 
band's parishioners. They had one son and one daugh- 



8 A Loyal Love. 

ter. The daughter had married into the army and 
had gone to India. The son had taken orders. 

The second speaker was the Reverend F. Forsyth, 
the aforesaid son. He was something of a remarkable 
man. He had always been peculiar as a child, and had 
developed into a strong, silent, thoughtful, forceful man 
with an unbending will, a lover of fair play and justice, 
a hater of hypocrisy and sham, a man with the courage 
of his convictions, who feared no man's criticisms. He 
made it a point to be silent on any question until he was 
fully informed; then, having made up his mind as to his 
course, he was its champion and would carry it through 
in the face of mountains of opposition. 

He had taken honors at Oxford, had traveled for a 
year, and at three and twenty had been ordained and 
had been offered one of the best parishes in the county, 
which he had accepted. 

"And what brings you up now, my boy; what — a 
rest?" 

"No, father, not a rest. A rest is about the last thing 
I do want. I am afraid that what I have to say to you 
is going to be a dire disappointment, as well as a sur- 
prise. 

"Father, I am about to resign my parish!" 

"Resign your parish? Resign your parish? One of 
the best in England — eight hundred pounds a year — 
many of the best families in the county in your congrega- 
tion! You are popular, and yet you want to resign — to 
resign such a parish just as you are entering life. You 
must be mad. I cannot understand you." 



A Loyal Love. 9 

"Father, that is all true; everything is as you say. 
It is the fairest parish in the county. The people are 
simply dear; the church is a dream. I have taken time 
to make up my mind, and I am persuaded that my fash- 
ionable congregation wall never consent to listen to a man 
of my years teaching the gospel of Christ with simply 
Love, Faith and Humility as its figurehead. This must 
be, and it would be a failure. 

"Now Father, listen to me. I have come here to have 
a quiet chat with you and consult you on this matter. I 
know you are a man of wide experience, while I am only 
a child, but I can read, and what I read leads me to take 
exception to the way our clergy interprets Christ's word. 

Perhaps I am wrong; perhaps I am right. I am no 
judge; I accuse no man, but I am convinced that when 
Christ says 'A. B. C.\ He means A. B. C — nothing 
more, and nothing less. 

"You cannot change or substitute anything for Christ's 
teaching; it must be exact or it is not His words, and 
Christ never minces matters, — no chance for a misunder- 
standing. When Christ says: 

'Resist not evil; but whomsoever shall smite 
thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other 
also.' 

"Does Christ mean this, or does He not? 
"Now, what concerns the clergy — do they acknowl- 
edge the truth of this law — and believe it, and teach it? 
"The denominational places of worship I do not know, 



10 A Loyal Love. 

nor their teaching, but don't you think that we clergy 
are guilty in not preaching the truth, the whole truth and 
nothing but the truth, without which we are not preaching 
God's word. And let me say, too, we are sending souls 
to perdition that would have been saved through proper 
teaching — and I have come here to see how you feel 
about it. 

"A horror creeps into my mind that we shall all be 
found false prophets, for telling half a story is a lie — 
while the other half would make it true — and that is what 
we do. I cannot go on preaching the gospel of Christ as 
we are expected to preach it, knowing as I do, that it is 
not Christ's, that it is not the teachings that He gave his 
apostles to hand on to us. They are miles apart." 

"But my dear boy, what do you mean? Do you 
mean that we do not preach Christ's gospel. Our Testa- 
ment is Christ's gospel, I suppose; do we not preach 
that?" 

"No, Father, we do not. I say that they are miles 
apart. The Christian religion that we preach is for the 
world and not for heaven. The Church and the World 
have established a co-partnership and, whether we like to 
say it or not, they do stand in partnership today — 'The 
Church and State' — where the world has much to 
say and Christ but little; where the world has all it wants, 
and hardly one of Christ's own teachings of love and 
humility, which He sealed with His blood upon the cross. 
Not one of these is considered of sufficient importance to 
be taught or expounded by His Church. 

"So far has the Church removed from what Christ 



A Loyal Love. 1 1 

has given us, and His teaching, His example, and His 
will, His Law, the doing of what Christ said you shall 
not do, and then not doing what Christ said we must 
do, that is simply framing a new religion in which Christ 
has no part. 

"Begin where you will, where do the two religions 
meet? I am afraid to begin for the divergence is so 
great I do not know where it will end; it is not right." 

"What is not right, my boy? Do you mean to say 
that the Church is wrong? Do you object to Church and 
State? What do you propose to do — to set the world 
straight?" 

"I simply mean to say that you and I are supposed 
to be two priests in this Church of Christ. We have 
undertaken, with the Lord, to feed and care for these 
persons in our congregations for whom Christ died; to 
preach to them what Christ preaches to us through His 
apostles — no more, no less; to give them the gospel in all 
its purity without fear or favor of the world. Not to 
preach what man likes, for then you would be the enemy 
of Christ; but to close your eyes against popularity or 
honor, and to deliver, and not to deliver only, but to 
teach the pure milk of the Word and, as far as in us 
lies, to be an example of the road to heaven. Do we do 
it, Father?" 

"My dear son,. I am not responsible for the souls of 
my people. You cannot saddle me with this responsi- 
bility." 

"That depends on you, Father. If you have deliv- 
ered your message in purity and made your Saviour's 



12 A Loyal Love. 

messages clear, the priest shall save his own soul; other- 
wise, perhaps you are guilty. 

"Look at the religion we have today and see how it 
correspond's with Christ's will. 

"When He tells us we must hang our Heavenly hope 
on love, the very first principle of our religion, we do not 
heed it; we do not believe it. We say 'Can you tell me 
what love and religion have to do with each other?' 
We smile at the idea, and the Church does not believe it 
either." 

"Well, is the Church far astray? How much love 
would you propose putting into the Church? Don't you 
know that people have their eyes open, and their ears, 
too, and would it be discreet, my boy, for a young man 
like you to have much to say on the subject?" 

"But Father, what Christ really rvants from us, and 
only what He wants, is our unbounded love and faith, 
and this we refuse to give; and we offer Him things that 
He does not want, or things of no value in His sight, in 
their stead. 

"I say, all through our Lord's teaching, the things that 
are of most importance, the very cream of Christ's teach- 
ing, we pass over and ignore. We do not so much as 
take them into serious consideration; we ridicule them and 
say they are out of date, times are changed and, for our 
religion, instead of doing what he asks for, what He 
really wants, we give Him what we are pleased to call 
our church work, or charitable work, which he detests. 
And this, we make our religion, instead of obeying Christ 
and loving Him — simply a delusion. 



A Loyal Love. 13 

"Is it any wonder that people leave the Church to 
seek Christ somewhere else, where He may be found? 

"There are three things, and only three things, that 
are indispensable in a consecrated life, or a life that 
would justify us in God's sight. The whole teaching of 
our Lord, and of the apostles and of the New Testa- 
ment, is built upon these three graces, and the gospel of 
Christ is full of them. 

The first and foremost is the 'Love of God;' 
The second is 'Love of Man,' 
The third is 'Humility,' 

and without these three graces we shall never see God." 

"Well, my boy, you can hardly call these 'indis- 
pensable in a consecrated life.' Of course we all love 
God, but, as far as man is concerned, we all have, and 
must have, our likes and dislikes; and for 'humility,' of 
course it is very useful for people of a certain class, but 
I don't see that it comes into the Church. It looks to me 
as though you wish to change our religion." 

"Father, these three things are indispensable; nothing 
will take their place. A life, as a sacrifice, would be 
unavailing. 

"God is love and all love, and nothing but love will 
appeal to God. And in the heart of him where these 
three graces dwell, to that man there is no sin, he cannot 
sin, for he is Christ's. 'There is no condemnation to them 
that are in Christ Jesus.' 



1 4 A Loyal Love. 

"Let me ask you this, father. Your experience is 
large. How much real love do we find in our church, 
for God? 

"I do not mean just 'a matter of course' love; 
I do not mean that. I mean a real love that will reach 
out above a husband's love or a wife's love, or the moth- 
er's love for her child, or a sweetheart's love. This is 
what I call love — the first~of-all love, that of the lover, 
and ahead of every love. Have you tried to teach this 
love? Have you shown how absolutely necessary this 
love is before we can reach God?" 

"Well, I don't know that I have. I never thought 
much about it. Love is love, and even if we do not 
love Him we always reverence Him. I am afraid that 
I never had any such love as you speak of. One grows 
to regard God as above our love." 

"Never was there a greater mistake. This is the 
love that God is jealous for. How many people love 
God so? And what has the priest to say? 

"God will not suffer any love to come between you 
and Himself. Do we lay this down to the people as the 
very first rule to a religious life? I think not. And then 
comes the second Command: 

'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' 

just as important as the love of God." 

"It is wasting your time to ask men to do that." said 
his father, "for they will not do it. Of course there are 
those who will accept the saying, but it does not hold 



A Loyal Love. 15 

good, where hatred is concerned. You can't make re- 
ligion impossible." 

"Well, let us put this in different words — which 
amounts to the same thing: 

'Do unto others what you would they 
should do unto you.' 

"It amply covers the ground." 

"Christ does not call for the same fervor of our love 
toward our neighbor as He does toward Himself. We 
love our neighbors as ourselves, but we have to love Him 
more. This love is the fountain of our religion. It 
is the hub upon which all the Christion religion hangs and 
revolves. Leaving love out is like casting out the 'head 
stone of the corner.' Without Him the rest is nothing. 

"And we must remember, too, that it is no ordinary 
love that we must have for those 'within the fold.' 

"St. Paul calls all those 'within,' that had already 
given themselves to the Lord. 

"And those 'without,' those who refused Christ and 
served the world. 

"Christ, St. Paul and St. John make the first duty of 
a Christian, after love to God, to love his fellow Christian. 
St. Paul said, without this love there is no Christianity. 
You are not a Christian until you do love them, and 
very dearly. 

"The Lord's children are like another man's child- 
ren. He says to them, 'Cultivate love and harmony for 
each other. I will not be the father of a quarrelsome 



16 A Loyal Love. 

and rebellious lot.' Christ has so ordained that this love 
must exist between those that are His, that they may be of 
one heart and one mind, and He says: 

'By this shall all men know that ye are My 
disciples because ye love one another as I have 
loved you.' 

"The Holy Communion which Christ ordained — this 
Holy Supper of the Lord — was called the 'Love Feast' 
because it was the Feast of Love, and nothing was there 
but bread and wine and love — love in every heart — and 
that composed the love feast. 

"You do not receive the Love Feast at all, unless 
your heart is there. Love is the 'wedding garment' there 
— you must have it, or be turned out." 

"The world will very kindly draw the lines of your 
affection for you. You may love your husband, or your 
wife, or brother or sister, or father or mother, or per- 
chance, a cousin or two, and there your love must 
stop, between the sexes at any rate, and the world or 
society will suffer nothing further, and you can only enjoy 
it at the risk of a scandal. 

"But what does Christ say?— 

'These things I command you, that you 
love one another. If the world hates you, ye 
know that it hated me before it hated you.' 

' 'Blessed are ye when men shall revile 
you, and persecute you, and shall say all man- 



A Loyal Love. 17 

ner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for 
great is your reward.' 

"I do not wish to appear to make a mountain out of 
a mole-hill, but what God prizes so much in heaven, we 
on earth, make so little of. 

"In the early Church the people who had turned to 
Christ lived largely in communities. When people be- 
came Christians, they had finished with the world; they 
sold their homes and other property and gave the money 
to the apostles, for the benefit of the Church, as we are 
told in the Acts. 

' 'And all that believed were together, and 
all had things in common; and sold their pos- 
sessions and goods and parted them to all men, 
as every man had need. Neither was there any 
among them that lacked; for as many as were 
possessors of lands or houses sold them and 
brought the prices of the things that were sold, 
and laid them down at the apostles' feet; and 
distribution was made unto every man accord- 
ing as he had need.' 

"Here was the Church in its purity, — love your 
neighbor as yourself. You see the opportunities it would 
afford these people in getting rooted and grounded and 
encouraged and strengthened in their new religion. It 
was the one theme of their conversation — their home in 
heaven. This was a new religion, remember, simply 
'a matter of faith' and it required every nourishment. 
Their religion had made them friends, and they soon 



18 A Loyal Love. 

loved. These people often spent the day in wondering 
and hope. They clung together, — these servants of the 
Lord. Their interests were the same; the object the 
same, and when persecutions came, they prayed together 
for more love and faith, and went together to the lions. 

"It is said that 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of 
the Church.' Had they lived alone — no one to talk to, 
no companionship, a visit from St. Paul once or twice a 
week — the seed would never have ripened; it must have 
died. But God knew that love was the strongest power, 
and it was through this love for each other that they 
realized heaven. 



"But surely it must have come to you, father, what 
heavenly love is! How wonderful, marvelous, lovely — 
I may almost say a miraculous power — we call love. It 
is the law in heaven, the only law there. It is another 
word for God, for God is love. 

"When God made man He made him in love, and 
poured this love into the soul — this soul-thrilling love — to 
guide and bless him in his life. Of all the powers given 
to man, this one porver of love was far in advance of 
them all. A man will do for love that which no other 
force could make him do. 

"Like all the laws of nature, they work themselves, 
for love is a force that will compel a man to work the 
wishes of its object, both to God and man, just as surely 
as any law of nature will act. 



A Loyal Love. 19 

"This is 'Christian liberty,' the result of the love, and 
the law of sin and death does not reach those people. 

"St. Paul loved Christ, and the fruit of that love was 
a desire to do Christ's will. There was no law for him; 
he could do as he wished, and so can any of us that 
love Christ. As St. Paul says: 

" 'All things are lawful for me, but all 
things are not expedient; all things are lawful 
for me, but all things edify not.' 

"If we do not please Christ, it is because we do not 
love Him. If we do love Him we will not displease 
Him. Father, have you preached this universal love? 
It is most important." 

"That is all sheer nonsense," said his father. "Who 
do you suppose would be saved? You must be rational. 
You cannot force people's affections; you cannot force 
them. I believe a man must live up to his light." 

"Well, from end to end all Christian religion is love, 
and that is the very point that I am quite sure makes up 
the Christian character. I will not preach the gospel until 
I can give it all. 

"Father, as two priests in the Church, should we not 
be wiser to make this a little plainer to the people — show 
them the absolute necessity of love? It is not the people, 
remember — it is you and I. 

"Are we not responsible for what is taught in our 
Church? We certainly are. There are good people and 
bad people everywhere. There are good people in our 



20 A Loyal Love. 

churches who are earnestly trying to lead good and holy 
lives, lives for heaven, and to please God, but where have 
they got their religion? In the Church, naturally. 

"Then the Church is responsible for it. It is you and 
I, father, who are responsible, and we are letting them 
believe and rely on a religion that is false, and that will 
not save them. Their lives will be lost. 

"If we do not believe and practice what the apostles 
taught, we are not Christ's. There is no use in talking 
about it; we are not Christ's. Christ's words are plain; 
every child can understand them." 

"Well my boy, I do not see how I can help you. If 
you are determined to have the whole Church in love 
with itself, I am afraid you will have your hands full and 
I cannot help you. If you want to preach a religion that 
men will accept, you must have reason and reasonable 
laws, and accept the Church as it is. If you want to 
make it a hotbed for love, then break with the Church 
and start as the apostles did." 

"It is not only love, father. There is one thing more 
that the Lord must have from us besides our love and 
faith, and that is our humility. 

"People will bear a great deal sometimes in their 
religious lives, but there are lamentably few who will 
bear 'humility,' and' what is more, the Church condones 
it, permits it; in fact, approves it, while next to love, 
humility is perhaps the chief grace in our Lord's sight. 



A Loyal Love. 21 

"If you wish to be great in heaven, then you must be 
servant of all down here. 

"Our Lord's birth, life, His death, without exception 
were of the lowliest, to lay down by His own example the 
force of the grace of humility in God's sight. We do not 
know why — simply it is His will; that should be enough 
for us 

' 'I am meek and lowly in spirit, and ye 
shall find rest unto your souls.' 

"And He told his disciples once, when asked, 'Who 
shall be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?' 

' 'Whoever shall humble himself as this lit- 
tle child, the same shall be the greatest in the 
Kingdom of Heaven.' 

"A large part of our Saviour's suffering in this world 
was, no doubt, through His example of humility, and 
Christ would never have taught us so had it not been 
necessary in God's sight. And yet, the Church does not 
take the least notice of it, and the clergy let the world 
drift on to its destruction. Do you teach this? 

"Our Saviour was a promise by God. He was to be 
the King of the Jews. The Jews looked for a king of 
royal grandeur, and when He was born in a stable, they 
refused Him. 

"He could have been a sacrifice for us even had He 
been born in royal grandeur, and had a happy life. His 
sacrifice was in his death for us — in His blood; but where 
would have been His example, and His teaching of 



22 A Loyal Love. 

humility? The sacrifice — was in His death, but His 
humility — the object of his lowly life. 

"Fancy my preaching to my fashionable congregation, 
laying down the law that humility was absolutely neces- 
sary to salvation. You must conquer every whit of pride 
and humble yourself or you will never see your God, yet 
it is so — " 

"Oh, you are foolish, my boy. You foolish boy! 
God never meant these things to be. You could never 
live in the world on these terms. Do you expect to make 
men angels?" 

"I speak but the truth. It is for these teachings and 
others, that the Church must give an account, and that 
includes you and me, father. // they are God's words 
they must be obeyed or men will die. If they are not 
God's words, the Saviour's teaching has fallen to the 
ground. His example is lost. The Christian religion is 
not the gospel after all. 

"What was the meaning of our Saviour washing the 
disciples' feet the last thing before His crucifixion? Is 
that nothing? He said unto them: 

* 'Know ye not what I have done unto you? 
Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well; 
for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, 
have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash 
one another's feet. For I have given you an 
example, that ye should do as I have done to 
you.' 



A Loyal Love. 23 

"How often do you go into a church and hear the 
preacher discoursing upon the love and goodness of 
God? 

"He is our Father. We are His sons. He is merci- 
ful, forgiving, tender-hearted and compassionate. God 
is everything that is lovely and beautiful. 

"Yes, and it is all true, many more times than we 
can tell, to those who love and obey Him; but only to 
those who love and obey Him. But to those who do 
not love and obey Him — what then? 

' 'Vengeance is Mine saith the Lord. I 
will repay.' 'Bring My enemies before Me and 
slay them.' 'It is a fearful thing to fall into 
the hands of the living God.' 

"He is the sweetest kind of friend you can ever have 
in this world, but He is the soul of justice; nothing can 
turn Him from that. 'As a man sows, so shall he reap.' 
Now is the time, when we are alive, that we should 
understand God, not later when it is too late; and I say 
we do not fcnon? Him. 

"Men have a hazy idea that God is an easy task- 
master. He is so merciful that all sin will be done away. 
Do you know what Christ says? 

' 'Fear not man, who can kill only the 
body, but I will forewarn you whom to fear; 
fear God who is able to cast both body and 
soul into hell.' 

"Why do we not give men warning? Is it fair? Is 



24 A Loyal Love. 

it right? In the Mosaic Law, a priest who failed to 
warn the people of a sin, his soul was required as a sub- 
stitute. 

"No, n>e do not fynorv Him. He is a stranger to us 
and to a fearful majority of the world. How can we 
pray to a stranger and expect a recognition when we 
have literally scorned Him for years? 

"Is it not the priest who should have warned the 
people of their offended God? Father, it is hard to 
'kick against the pricks," is it not? 



"I do not think for one moment that God rules this 
world. This world is God's enemy and He will not 
rule it. The devil said to Christ once: 

** 'All this is mine,' stretching his hand over the earth. 
'All this is mine, and to whomsoever I will, I give it.' 

"And he ruled it as he saw fit, not making the world 
what men call wicked — that was not his policy at 
all, since man was redeemed — but simply to make them 
live such lives that would satisfy their conscience, and 
still would keep them out of heaven; not wicked — the 
devil was too skillful. It looked all right. 

"Our first parents were made innocent. He stole that 
innocence from them and he substituted shame, which 
they had never seen before; and the devil, no doubt, 
thought that if he could only prevent our loving one an- 
other, and destroy our faith and humility, he knew we 
should never get to heaven, and he was content to let the 
people, for their conscience' sake, go to church and pray 



A Loyal Love. 25 

and work to their hearts' content, while he shamed them 
from doing any of those things that they should have done 
for God's justification. 

"God does not rule this world, but the devil does; 
and all its sins and all its crimes are his, and not God's. 

"When God made the world, it was beautiful. He 
blessed it and made it fruitful for His love to mankind, and 
all was happiness and love. He made man and woman, 
and bade them replenish the earth and subdue it, and 
gave them that inestimable gift of eternal life. God was 
their friend. God delighted in their society. God ruled 
the world then, for there was no sin. He was their 
King, their Friend, their God. 

"But man fell; he disobeyed God, probably the first 
time God ever had been disobeyed. In His anger He 
said to Adam, 'Because thou hast eaten of the tree of 
which I commanded thee, saying, "thou shalt not eat of 
it," cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt 
thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and 
thistles shall it bring forth to thee. In the sweat of thy 
brow shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the 
ground; for out of it thou wast taken; for dust thou art 
and unto dust thou shalt return.' 

"God does, not curse a place and then rule it; He 
casts it from Him, and for many hundred years He left 
the world, with a few notable exceptions, and the devil 
became the ruler. 

"Then Christ came to redeem man — the Father had 



26 A Loyal Love. 

committed all things unto the Son; and Christ came 
down to save from the wreck, whosoever would. 

"He did not rule the world; on the contrary, the 
world looked upon Him as its enemy, but Christ came 
here to offer eternal life to as many as would have it — 
to work in the enemy's camp; not to rule, but to save, that 
which was lost. 

"Fancy God ruling the world and saying, 'Love not 
the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any 
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.' 

"Why, it is His enemy and not His kingdom! St. 
James said to his converts: 

"' 'Know ye not that the friendship of the 
world is enmity with God? Whosoever will be 
a friend of the world is the enemy of God.' 

Well, does that sound much like ruling this world? 
'True religion is to keep yourself unspotted from the 
world.' You remember what Christ said to Pilate at 
His trial: 

" 'My kingdom is not of this world . . . 
If my kingdom were of this world, then would 
my servants fight that I should not be delivered 
to the Jews . . . but now is my kingdom 
not from hence.' " 

"I suppose that by 'ruling this world' is meant seeing 
that this world is ruled," said his father. I build a 
house but somebody does it for me; I am the owner and 
he is the builder. It would seem to me so. There is no 
question about it that we men put everything down to 



A Loyal Love. 27 

God in this world — good or bad. We cannot fancy that 
God is responsible for all the crimes that go on; that 
would be blasphemy, and yet, it is so. The fact is we 
do not know." 

"Yes father, and there is much more in our religion 
we don't know — your fault and mine — and, although 
the world looks with complacency on our religion now, 
there will be a terrible awakening some day. 

"The devil rules the world and its people. 

"Christ rules those who love Him, and no others. 

"How often we hear people say, 'Why does God al- 
low that? Why does God permit this?' How can a 
God of love allow such cruelty to women and children, or 
to some widow with one son perhaps, her idol, her sup- 
port, is brought home dead; a fine and noble man, and at 
the next house there lives an old sinner eighty years old, 
of no use to anybody. Why does God take her boy, 
and leave him there? The world is full every day of 
'Why does God do this or that,' which means discontent, 
unbelief, doubt; but God does not do it. The devil 
is master here and he does these things. 

"Christ saves His own. 

"Christ saves those who come to Him for life. He 
knows them well, their names and all about them, and He 
has said, 'All things shall work together for the good of 
those that love God.' He knows them well, but the 
children of the world, He does not know at all — even 
their existence. 



28 A Loyal Love. 

"I know not whence ye are; depart from 
me ye workers of inquity." 

"Father, those who can say the prayer He gave to 
His disciples, — that is a test. Do you teach that? Look 
at the Lord's prayer — a prayer that is supposed to, and 
does, incorporate all a Christian's wants, given by the 
Lord Himself. 

"It was not a prayer given to us. It was given to His 
disciples, and we have taken it for its beauty's sake, — a 
prayer used so universally that it is attached to all prayer. 
The little children use it. It is beautiful, and we have it 
on all occasions, and yet it is so self-condemnatory. 

"It was not intended for those 'outside;' far better 
did they not use it. 

"It was given to the apostles and was eminently fitted 
to them and their beliefs. 

"Do you warn the people against using this prayer, 
father? Do you warn them that they are asking a 
curse upon themselves? Do not pray for what you do 
not want. 

"Take the opening petition, 

'Thy kingdom come.' 

This is the very last thing the people want. The end 
of the world to come now? Destroy this world and let 
the heavens melt in fervent heat? The Judgment Day is 
come — time is finished! I would not pray for this if 
I did not mean it. Are you ready? Are you ready to 



A Loyal Love. 29 

meet, with an unalloyed heart, your Lord today? Then, 
if we are not ready — if we do not Want it, and still ask 
for it — we are laughing at God. Again: 

"Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven;** 

the second petition; why, father, we do not mean this, and 
we don't want it. All we want is our own will and not 
God's. We are afraid to have 'Thy will be done.' 
We are afraid to trust Him all alone. He may think 
that poverty is best for us, or disaster, or pain, sickness 
or accident. I cannot pray for this; I cannot bear it. 
Of course, it is right in heaven, but we would rather have 
our own will here. We can't pray this! And again: 

'Give us this day our daily bread;' 

just what our Lord taught his disciples, and He and 
His disciples lived that way — trusted to God for every- 
thing they wanted and were as innocent of care, as 
infants. He who had 'nowhere to lay His head' did 
not trouble about food. 

'Therefore, take no thought saying, what 
shall we eat or what shall we drink, or where- 
withal shall we be clothed, for after all these 
things do the Gentiles seek; for your Heavenly 
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these 
things; but seek ye first the Kingdom of God 
and His righteousness, and all these things shall 
be added unto you=' 



30 A Loyal Love. 

"This is our dear Lord's promise. Do you trust 
Him? 

"But today we do not want to live that way. The 
times have altered. We must provide for our families; 
different now to the olden times. We should simply 
starve. We do not want our food daily like the bird or 
beast of the field. We all want to make money and 
accumulate it, and want to be independent in case of 
hard times. Everybody does it; and we pray this peti- 
tion! Whereas it is the very last thing we want. Here 
are three petitions we do not want — we wouldn't have 
them. What hypocrites we are! Then the next 
petition : 

** 'And forgive us our trespasses as we for- 
give them that trespass against us.' 

Can it be possible that we can say those words to Al- 
mighty God, which call down a curse upon our heads, — 
when our hearts are swelling with anger or contempt, or 
hatred, or revenge, and our dear Lord saying, 'If ye 
forgive not men their trespasses, neither will I forgive you 
your trespasses?' 

"How can we dare to address Almighty God thus, 
Who knows the heart better than ourselves — 'forgive us 
as we forgive others,' without the least idea of ever for- 
giving a great wrong. It is simply taking the trouble 
to ask God not to forgive our sins. Here are four peti- 
tions of this prayer, and of all things we do not want — 
is that that prayer be granted. 



A Loyal Love. 31 

"Father, is this prayer a curse, or is it a blessing? 
And what must the judgment be of those who use it 
improperly ? 

"This prayer was given to the apostles, and was 
meant for all of God's* children, — the 'inside, 1 but it was 
never meant for the worldling or 'outside;* nor could the 
worldling use it. It was meant only for Christ's lovers, 
and the same may be said of the Epistles. 

"These Epistles were never meant or written for the 
worldling. They were private letters written to private 
people, first to one church and then to another, but not 
one of them was addressed to us, nor were they intended 
for us. They were written for those 'within.* 

"If we throw the world up — if we be as Christ says, 
'Ye are not of this world, even as I am not of this 
world,' if our citizenship is where Christ says His is, — 
'Not from hence,' then we shall be admitted to share the 
benefit of these Epistles. 

"They are to us, and their promises are ours; but 
for the worldling — his taking these letters to himself is 
like accepting another man's invitation. 

"St. Paul never imagined that his epistles would 
some day flood the world. He wrote many endearing 
things that were meant for individuals. 

"Oh, St. Paul loved his converts — a love above all 
loves — and he could see the time that in the future body 
they would be forever friends. He loved them according 
to their love for Christ. He says: 

' 'For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of 
rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of 



32 A Loyal Love. 

our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye 
are our glory and joy.' 

How that man loved his converts! But here the world 
will not let us do it. And again, to the Philippians, he 
writes: 

** 'Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved 
and longed for — my joy and crown, so stand- 
fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.' 

You can't suppose that he would write to the world 
in that kind of way! Why no! These are the dearest 
spots in his heart. There is nothing like the love of the 
Lord to bring hearts together. They are riveted and 
you cannot part them; you may tear them but you can- 
not divide them. 

' Tor though you have ten thousand in- 
structors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers, 
for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through 
the gospel.' 

" 'And I will gladly spend and be spent for 
you, though the more abundantly I love you, 
the less I be loved.' 

"This is the Christian love; it lives; it is a part of 
God coming straight from heaven, but no one can know 
it until he gets it from where it belongs. The more you 
look into your religion, and life of Christ, and then look 
at the worldly life, the more you will see how impossible it 
is to live for both, and serving both, really means serving 
the world." 



A Loyal Love. 33 

"Well, boy, what you say is quite true. I do not 
suppose that most people in using the Lord's prayer 
ever think of what they are saying. We certainly do 
not mean it; we use it as a form of prayer, and, being 
the Lord's own form, we look upon it as being best. If 
there is an answer to that prayer when improperly used 
it must be a curse." 

"I am afraid so, but we, as priests to guide and lead 
the people, have we warned them of this danger of using 
these words? That is our duty — our bounden duty. 
Who is responsible, they or we? You cannot shirk the 
priest's duty. 

"Let us take the 'Sermon on the Mount:' This is 
Christ's view of the life that would please Him, and 
therefore a life that those who worship Him will lead. 
It was such a life as He led, Himself, and such a life 
as He would have us lead. He lived it, Himself, in 
every particular, so we cannot say that it can't be done. 
In fact, it was His daily life. As usual it was all love; 
every action actuated by love. 

"I think it is well to look at the closing of this ser- 
mon for it contains Christ's warnings. 

"He closeth His sermon thus: 

" 'Therefore, whosoever heareth these say- 
ings of Mine and doeth them, I will liken him 
unto a wise man who built his house upon a 
rock and the rains descended and the floods 
came and the wind blew and beat upon that 
house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a 
rock. 



34 A Loyal Love. 

*' 'And everyone that heareth these sayings 
of Mine and doeth them not, shall be likened 
unto a foolish man which built his house upon 
the sand; and the rains descended and the 
floods came and the winds blew and beat upon 
that house and it fell, and great was the fall 
of it.' 

"I quote a few verses; only a few — what Christ says 
we must do, if we would be His: 

' 'But I say unto you that ye resist not 
evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right 
cheek, turn to him the other also. 

' 'And if any man shall sue thee af law 
and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak 
also. 

' 'Give to him that asketh thee, and from 
him that would borrow of thee turn not thou 
away. 

'* 'But I say unto you, love your enemies; 
bless them that curse you; do good to them that 
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully 
use you and persecute you; that ye may be the 
children of your Father which is in heaven. 

' 'For if ye forgive men their tresspasses, your 
Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if 
ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will 
your Father forgive your trespasses. 



A Loyal Love. 35 

" 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon 
earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in 
heaven. 

" 'No man can serve two masters; for either 
he will hate the one and love the other; or else 
he will hold to the one and despise the other. 
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.' 



"Do you know what this means, father? 

"Christ warns us that we cannot serve two masters; 
the world thinks it can, and this is to show you why. 
This sermon covers the whole gist of Christ's teaching, 
Love, Faith and Humility. We cannot be Christ's and 
yet do these things. We must choose who is our master, 
now, or the world will do it for us. 

"If we can live this sermon, (and one can by God's 
help), we are Christ's forever and forever, but if not, then 
take Christ's advice and do not try. Christ warns us to 
sit down and count the cost — whether we have faith 
sufficient to finish, or will men laugh and say he began 
to build and was not able to finish. 

"This trying to live for two masters is bringing death 
to the tvorld, and people do not know it. Have we told 
them? 

"Have we dared to tell them from the pulpit that 
these things are absolutely true, and none can hope to 
save his house from the mighty forces of nature in any 
other way?" 



36 A Loyal Love. 

"It strikes me," said his father, "that you have hunted 
up all the impossible things for a man to do and turned 
them into a new religion. I have never preached on this 
subject. What is the use of telling a man to do the 
things he won't do? Christ never meant this thing to be 
exercised in ordinary life. The apostles and converts 
of His time perhaps did, under His guidance, and they 
gave up the whole world — but not now. Men think that 
God's law is revoked in this lapse of time, or forgotten." 

"Father, let me put it to you in this way: Say you 
were left the executor of a multi-millionaire's will. He 
left a fortune to any man whose life the executor honestly 
believed was in accordance with this sermon — that he 
lived the life. He paid you well, but if you made a mis- 
take and paid it where it was not deserved, you were to 
refund to the estate double the amount. Do you know 
many people at present who have earned that money, or 
to whom you could pay it?" 

"Well, you put it in that shape, I don't think I can. 
It is no use beating about the bush; we don't do it — we 
can t. 

"Do you know, father, what this will is — the last will 
and testament of Christ? 

"Do you know that we two, as priests, are executors 
of this will? We have accepted the position voluntarily. 
Men go to church to learn the particulars of that will; to 
learn what we may do and what we may not do, and 
the results. Where else would they go? 



A Loyal Love. 37 

"We are responsible for the teaching of that church. 
What do they learn there from us? 

"Does your conscience never prick you as mine does 
me? Are we not guilty, yes, very guilty, in not warning 
our people that they are wrong; that they are building 
their houses on the sand, and nothing can save them ex- 
cept their change?" 

"Since you ask me the question, my boy, my con- 
science does not prick me. I am not a reformer. I 
preach what men will listen to and I keep clear of what 
they won't. Men seem to give prominence to some parts 
of the Testament, and other parts they let severely alone. 
The world accepts it and is satisfied; let it be so." 

"I can't agree with you. Nearly every passage in 
this sermon is to teach men to love, and to love is to 
give. Father, love is heaven, and let the unbeliever laugh. 

As a matter of fact, the Christian religion, as I have said, 
is simply a religion of love. It is a love story — a great 
love offered and spurned. If you take our Testament 
from the beginning to the end, its whole teaching is to 
love God and love man. Does it strike you as wonder- 
ful that it should be so?. We think so little of love in 
our religion ! 

"What is love? It is the one thing in our nature 
that can make us happy — supremely happy — and with- 
out it, happiness is impossible. We all crave love; it is 
a part of God's being — love. In heaven all is love — just 
such love as we know. 

"Love is the current coin in heaven. We pay in 



38 A Loyal Love. 

love for everything in heaven, while on earth, gold is the 
coin. What gold is here, so is love in heaven; so it 
must be of vital importance in our religion. 

"St. Paul is very strong on this point, and he and St. 
John and even Christ Himself set down our love for our 
fellow-Christians — our real love — wherever they may 
be, as important to the Christian life as the love they 
bear to Christ. 

"The poorest on the earth can love — and that is all 
God asks from us — within the reach of all. 



"What do you suppose St. Paul means in his four 
epistles, telling his converts to kiss each other with a 
holy kiss? St. Peter, too? 

"St. Paul tells his Roman converts, 'Salute one an- 
other with the holy kiss. The Churches of Christ salute 
you.' 

"And again, to his Corinthian converts he writes, 
'All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with 
a holy kiss.* 

"And to the Thessalonians he writes, 'Greet all the 
brethren with a holy kiss.' 

"And St. Paul says to 'Greet ye one another with 
a kiss of love; peace be with you all that are in Christ 
Jesus.' 

"What did they mean by this? They meant some- 



A Loyal Love. 39 

thing — what did they mean? Don't you suppose that 
they meant them to be very dear to each other, as close 
as friends can be; that they had to find among them- 
selves what they lost in the world? And what would the 
world say now if a clergyman were to teach his people 
what these people have been taught?" 

"Well," said his father, "I don't suppose it would 
make very much difference to us at any rate. I am very 
much inclined to think that times have changed. You 
cannot preach that now. You could empty your church 
in short order by teaching this doctrine." 

"Empty churches or not, we want the truth. I want 
to know why the converts should have been on such 
familiar terms, simply because they were Christians, while 
our church people are afraid to speak to each other 
without an introduction. 

"There is a vast difference; in one case they are 
strangers, and half the time look daggers at their neigh- 
bors. 

"And in the other, they are lovers." 

"What St. Paul wrote four times he has probably 
said fifty times. 



"There is much more than that. These are Christ's 
own words and written by St. Paul, and they don't 
change their meaning. Christ's religion does not change; 
we do, — but under the teaching of the world. You can- 



40 A Loyal Love. 

not change one bit of the New Testament, and by it you 5 
shall be judged. 

"These people were brought very close to each other, 
and they were bidden to love each other, over and over 
again; not sin, bcause they were Christ's and abstained 
from doing what they should not, Christ's children can- 
not sin, and still they loved each other, and St. Paul re- 
minds them of the Christian's liberty which they are now 
enjoying by saying: *And brethren, ye have been called 
unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the 
flesh, but by love serve one another.' You must not use 
your liberty to sin, for then you are not a Christian. 

"Or shall we greet this kiss as a pledge of fidelity 
and Christian love between those who are honestly 
Christ's, whose lives then and thereafter were love, and as 
a token of undying fidelity between those who had given 
up the world for Christ's sake, and of the glories of heaven 
in each other's society? 

"However, whatever was his reason, we are quite sure 
it was good, and St. Paul was instant in preaching this 
everywhere — love and faith, love and faith — the back- 
bone of the Christian religion as Christ gave it to us. 

"And I know nothing harder than for a man or a 
woman to reach heaven alone, surrounded by a world 
(which knows not Christ) and its temptations, under bad 
influence perhaps, not a single word of encouragement 
or help, perhaps not one soul to turn her from earth to 
heaven, without one sympathizing ear to whom she could 
bring her doubts and fears and to teach her to hold fast 



A Loyal Love. 41 

in her ripening love for her Savior. I tell you, alone, 
we are lost. We must have fellowship." 

"According to your version, you have turned the 
whole Christian religion into a religion of love — a very 
astounding version! Are you not putting the shoe on 
the wrong foot in turning the church of action into one of 
love? A Christian must fight for all he wants in this 
world, as well as other people, and win to get it, and I 
see no signs of a change. My dear boy, you cannot 
change a man's nature." 

"Now, father, you pardon me here. Do you re- 
member what Christ says to Nicodemus? 'Except a man 
be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.' 

"It is a transmutation. Some men believe that they 
will be turned to birds or beasts by transmutation, but 
Christ teaches us that we will be turned from the flesh of 
the world into the flesh of the spirit — 'a new birth.' Our 
Lord wants a 'nen; creature,* for the 'old' will not accept 
His teaching of love. He does not mean one or two, 
but everyone who hath the Lord's love. The capacity of 
man's heart for loving is wonderful ; it can love thousands. 
In heaven we shall love, and be loved, by everybody 
there. 

"Christ said no man putteth new wine into old bot- 
tles, for it will break the bottle and the wine will be 
lost, or, you cannot put Christ's new teaching of love 
into old hearts, for they will not hear or believe it — you 
must have a 'new creature' to accept Christ's teaching. 

"Listen to what St. Paul says to all fellow-Christians: 



42 A Loyal Love. 

" 'Love one another, for he that loves an- 
other has fulfilled the law.' 

" 'Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; 
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.' 

"' 'For ye yourselves are taught of God to 
love one another.' 

" 'But we beseech you brethren that ye in- 
crease more and more.' 

" 'Behold, let us love one another for love is 
of God, and everyone that loveth is born of 
God, and knoweth God.' 

There are many other texts in the Testament imploring 
for more love from the fellow-Christians to fellow-Chris- 
tians. 'God is no respecter of persons.' If you fail in 
this you have failed entirely. 

"Now, what does our Lord, Himself, say to those 
that are His? And He is not talking about your neigh- 
bors; He is speaking about your fellow-Christians now: 

" 'By this shall all men know that ye are 
My disciples, if ye love one to another.' 

The Lord said again of fellow-Christians: 

*' 'A new commandment I give unto you, 
that ye love one another as I have loved you; 
that ye also love one another.' 

"I know of no closer compact between two souls than 
that both of them love the Saviour. It is better than the 
Creed; it is better than the Church Service, or better than 
sermon; it is better than the Holy Communion; it is better 



A Loyal Love. 43 

than the whole Church together, because you can get to 
heaven without these things, if you are so placed, but 
without this love, this heaven you can never attain. 

"St. Paul writes to the Corinthians these words: 

" 'Though I speak with tongues of men 
and angels and have not love, I am become as 
sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. 

*' 'And though I have the gift of prophecy 
and understand all mysteries and all knowl- 
edge, and though I have all faith so that I 
could remove mountains and have not love, I 
am nothing. 

"' 'And though I bestow all my goods to feed 
the poor, and though I give my body to be 
burned, and have not love, it profiteth me noth- 
ing.' 

A child can understand this. Father, if a man is not 
satisfied with this evidence, that Christ expects everyone 
'within' the fold to love his fellow-Christians as He has 
loved us, that man is not 'born again,' and without that 
birth one can never see heaven — Christ says so." 

"My dear boy, I wish you would not dig up what is 
so soundly sleeping now. I thought I knew my Bible 
fairly well, but we do not read it alike. I never noticed 
these things before, and I do not know that they are 
necessary. As long as the world lasts, men will hate and 
be revengeful and will not love their enemies, and they 
will not be humble. What is the use of digging these 
things up, for men will not do them. The world and the 



44 A Loyal Love. 

Church have got on very well without them for seventeen 
hundred years. Why dig them up? 

"The very reason that they should be dug up, that 
priests may warn their people of hidden danger — that so 
many good people may not lose their lives. 



"Take even justification. I should like to know what 
you think about the doctrine of 'Justification of Works' 
and the 'Justification of Faith.' One is right and one is 
wrong. It is like the two masters; you can't have both. 
You cannot be justified in God's sight by both faith and 
rvorJ^s; you must take your choice. If you take 'works' 
it will lose you heaven ; if you take 'faith' and live up to 
it, you win. 

"If you are a Christian you must believe what St. 
Paul says. He says there is no justification in God's 
sight in good works. They are unavailing to save a 
soul, no matter how good or how great they may be. All 
the good works of the nation in one hand could not save 
one soul, because people can't be saved that way. 

' 'He that believeth on the Son of God 
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not 
on the Son shall not see life.' 

"You see, it is by faith in Christ that he can be 
saved, and not by works. A man cannot go back on 
St. Paul's or Christ's teaching, and then say he loves 
Christ. 

"What do you preach about this, father? 



A Loyal Love. 45 

"Do you not think that we are preaching 'good works,' 
and teaching that people must do something for them- 
selves? We want to get to heaven our own way, by 
works, and not according to St. Paul's teaching. To 
work one's way to heaven by good works, St. Paul tells 
us to be an impossible thing. 



"You might just as well try to fit yourself by your life 
to occupy the English throne. You might be eminently 
fitted, in every respect, but you could not get there. 
Why? Because it is not yours; it is not for sale; you 
cannot get there without being heir. You must be the 
heir. You have thrown away your life in your mad 
aspirations and expectations. And it is the same way in 
heaven. Crowns of heaven are not for sale. You can- 
not fit yourself for a heavenly crown. You have no 
right to it; you are not eligible; it is not yours; you are 
not the heir. 

"Man was heir once, but he sinned and lost his title; 
he was no longer heir; it was gone, gone past man's re- 
demption. 

"But in God's good time he sent His Son Jesus Christ 
to earth to reconcile man to his Father in Heaven. 

"Nothing could do this but the blood that Christ of- 
fered on the cross, and, at this enormous cost — awful 
cost — the death of His Son — he bought bac\ for man 
what he had lost. 



46 A Loyal Love. 

"He died upon the cross for man's redemption, and 
the life blood shed upon that cross — only that blood — 
blotted out forever all sin and every man's offense, and 
restored to man, once more, the long lost title to the King- 
dom of Heaven, as co-heir with Christ, and at last he 
was heir again. 



"As the consecration prayer of the Holy Communion 
says, *Who made there (by His one oblation of Him- 
self once offered), a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, 
oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.* 

"This means all sins; past sins, present sins, and sins 
of the future. Man's sin is forgiven forever, and once 
more he is heir of the heavenly courts." 

"Do you mean to tell me that all sins of the world 
are forgiven; that man has no sin?" asked the father. 
"Then I suppose all men are fitted for heaven." 

"Not by any means. The forgiveness of sins does 
not take you to heaven, but you are eligible now to go 
to heaven as an heir, and you were not eligible before 
Christ died. 

"Christ died that you might go to heaven, not that 
you should go. 

"You are now reconciled to the Father, but now, 
you must be justified by God to go to heaven. Christ 
came to save the world, and every man in it can go to 
heaven if he will. Christ says: 



A Loyal Love. 47 

" 'I have made you heirs with Me; I am your Saviour, 
join Me and come. I will show you the way. Believe 
in Me and love Me with your first love; love all the 
brethren whom I love, and as I love you, and love your 
neighbor as yourself, and thou shalt live forever. I ask 
no more. Sin will never keep you out of heaven. If 
you are of my flock your sins are forgiven. If you are 
not of My flock, an immaculate life could not save you; 
not because you have sinned, but because you have not 
loved. 



"' 'Heaven is a gift of my Father, and I am here to 
show you the way.' Heaven is a gift — a present, and 
such a present as an eternal life of happiness. It is not 
a reward; it is not remuneration; it is not a payment for 
your doing anything. 

"It is a free gift of God to man, without money and 
without price — an invitation to share His home in ex- 
change for your love and faith. 

' 'God so loved the world that He gave His only 
begotten Son' to the end that all that believe in Him 
should not perish, but should have eternal life. 

"He gave His son; He gave Him up to the wicked 
will of men — to persecute Him, humiliate Him, kill 
Him. He gave Him up for this; not for anything you 
can possibly do, but that man, through a faith in Him, 
should live forever. 



48 A Loyal Love. 

"When God makes an offer to men you may be 
sure He will carry it out. He asks nothing from you 
but your love and faith; without these you are lost. 



"There are many people who would like to spoil 
God's gift by wanting to pay something for it. Fancy 
paying for the drops of Christ's blood, shed out of pure 
love for us; to pay for that — to pay for Christ's blood. 
Do you not see the insult, when God offers the very 
best gift to man, the priceless gift, life? 

"Here is a question of life or death. As I say, you 
cannot serve two masters; you must have one or the 
other, and if you choose wrong, it is death. It is not like 
any other point where there is a choice. 

"Here there is no choice. 

"Christ tells us, and His apostles tell us, in no un- 
certain terms what our duty is: 

* 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou 
shalt be saved. But he that believeth not shall 
be damned.' 

But the Church tells us that they must do something to 
save themselves; it does not seem to matter how, — by 
self-denial or self-sacrifice or church work, or lenten serv- 
ices, or fasting, or church going, or giving, etc., etc., while 
St. Paul tells them they are 'fallen from grace.' He says: 

' 'I am afraid of you lest I have be- 
stowed my labor in vain.' 

St. Paul said to the Galatians once: 



A Loyal Love. 49 

" 'But though we have an angel from heav- 
en preach any other gospel unto you than that 
we have preached unto you, let him be ac- 
cursed. As I said before so say I now again. 
If any man preach any other gospel unto you 
than that ye have received, let him be ac- 
cursed.' 
'What are roe teaching?" 



"He was teaching this 'saving by faith' and then, as 
now, he found it difficult to make people believe that 
heaven was a free gift to the people, offering heaven for 
their acceptance in exchange for their love. 

"Dad, I wish you would tell me what you preach on 
this question. It is awfully important, fearfully import- 
ant; for there are so many devout, holy and good people 
who are throwing away their lives through their clergy- 
men's teaching, or lack of teaching, and they don't 
know it. 

"Are you of my views, father, that you must be 
justified in God's sight, in God's way, before you can get 
to heaven?" 

"Well, my dear boy, I don't quite know that I am. 
God likes work. He tells us to bear much fruit. 'Justi- 
fication by works' is so plausible; you are doing some- 
thing; and 'Justification by faith' seems to be without 
reason — taken to heaven for doing nothing. In fact, I 
keep clear of it. People would not believe in it if I did 
preach it." 



50 A Loyal Love. 

"You say 'taken to heaven for doing nothing?' 
"Can you tell me what God has ever asked you to 

do? 

"Nothing at all! You do not suppose you can do 

anything for God? 

"He asked you only to love Him and to believe in 
Him; be satisfied, and do what He asked you to do, 
and make your religion in this world 'Love your neighbor' 
and, more especially, 'those who love Me.' Here is the 
Christian religion in all its fullness and all its purity. 

"Open your heart wide to all humanity, and to those 
that love Christ, clasp them to your bosom. This is 
the wealth that Christ bids you lay up in heaven. 

"A man once asked Christ: 'What shall I do that 
I may work the works of God?' Christ answered: 
'This is the works of God, that ye believe on Him whom 
He hath sent.' 

"And you turn to Christ and ask Him, 'What will 
You have me to do?' 

"Christ answers, 'Believe in Me, and love your 
neighbor as yourself.' 

"Love again; and the fruits of love for Christ are 
not of the hand or foot, but of the spirit — all for love — 
nothing without love. 

"There are hundreds of thousands of lives firmly 
resting on good works to save them — splendid lives, splen- 
did people. 



A Loyal Love. 51 

"You take an ordinary church with an ordinary 
congregation, and what is the life of its people? The 
best members that you have are the busiest in the church; 
they suit the priest best. 

"They teach in the Sunday School, perhaps join the 
choir. They belong to the Altar Guild and all the other 
guilds you have. They belong to the Women's Auxil- 
iary and other societies for raising money. They are 
on your visitors' list or at your Mothers' Meeting; they 
are faithful in church, regular at the Holy Communion 
and week day services. They are very liberal and char- 
itable and are always ready to do anything for the 
church. Their lives are splendid; they are pillars of the 
church and the priest knows it. 

"But this is their religion — a religion of n>orl?s, but 
no love perhaps, and no living faith. 

"Now, here is where the trouble comes in. They 
make this their life's religion, and are perfectly satisfied 
that they are living a just life and are entitled to heaven, 
as though they had earned it. 

"Justify? Many do not know what it means. This 
is simply rvorfys and does not justify us in God's sight at 
all, and only the life that God justifies can go to heaven. 
But God does not justify you for anything you have done 
or can do. He only justifies you for what Christ has 
done, 

"If you do not believe Him in your heart, your re- 
ligion is dead. 

"God will only justify those persons whose profound 



52 A Loyal Love. 

love He has, and whose full faith is in Jesus Christ, 
his Savior, and no one else. 

"These deluded people of good works are like a 
party going out to India. They knew they must cross 
the seas, but that was all they did know. They prepared 
their luggage, got tickets, went to the steamer, got on 
board and sailed. They asked no questions; they all 
wanted to go out to India and they went together. 

"Out of sight of land, and they were at sea indeed. 
They knew nothing of ships or shipping. They knew 
nothing of navigation — nothing to guide them in this 
waste of water, and they were lost; they had entrusted 
their lives to the hands of a stranger. But others have 
done it and they must know, and if we go with the ma- 
jority we shall surely be right, and they sailed and 
sailed. 

"And one day land was seen — 'Land ahead,' and 
they began to congratulate each other on their safe 
passage and the pleasant time they had had. 

"As they drew up to the dock, things seemed strange, 
and they said 'Where are we; what place is this?' 

"And the captain said, 'This is Rio Janeiro, South 
America.' 

"They were frightened. 'But we want to go to 
India, — thought we were on the Indian boat.' 

" 'Ah,' said the captain, 'you took the wrong boat. 
I never heard you mention India. There is no ship leav- 
ing to carry you back.' 

"These estimable people are philanthropists, and phil- 



A Loyal Love. 53 

anthropy is not the Christian religion. They have taken 
the wrong boat. 

Philanthropy is the love of man, but the Christian re- 
ligion is the love of Cod. 

If these good people have learned to love their Lord 
above mankind, and have faith in our Saviour's sacri- 
fice, all these works are the fruits of their love for Christ, 
and God will bless them and accept them as work done 
for Him. But unless it is the fruit of their love and their 
faith in Christ, He does not see it. They are not justi- 
fied and have lost the prize. 

"Christ Himself taught whom his Father would justify 
and whom he would not justify. 

"St. Paul's epistles are full of this doctrine that no 
man is justified by the law in the sight of God; 

' 'Christ is become of no effect unto whom- 
soever of you are justified by the law. Ye 
are fallen from grace.' 

' 'Knowing that a man is not justified by 
the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus 
Christ that we might be justified,' 

1 'Therefore, we conclude that man is justi- 
fied by faith, and without the deeds of the law, 
for if they which are of the law be heirs, then 
faith is made void.' 



"There are many other texts. You remember when 
God was destroying His people in the wilderness for 
sinning, by sending the fiery serpents, and the people 



54 A Loyal Love. 

were dying by thousands, and Moses came to God for 
mercy on them. 

"God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and put 
it on a pole and to set it up in the center of the camp as 
a remedy — of faith. All those who looked once at the 
brazen serpent were healed, and those who had no faith 
and would not look, died. All those who had faith 
were healed; those without faith perished. 

"So our Lord tells us Himself, as Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man 
be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on Him should not 
perish but should have eternal life. 

"He did not ask for anything but his faith. One 
look at the brazen serpent was sufficient; but the sacrifice 
on the cross demands our love and faith. 



"There was a certain man in a city who was a very 
estimable member of society, popular, a pillar of the 
church, regular at services, at all church meetings. He 
was rich; his philanthropy was the talk of the town. He 
had built a church and endowed it; also a childs' hospital 
and also a library for the working men. He was a 
leader in the Y. M. C. A. work. He was a friend of 
the poor — paid their rents and taxes and saved many a 
woman from being turned out in the snow. He was 
honorable, truthful, honest, just, reliable. He visited the 
hospitals and the poor sick, and the people little knew 
how much good he did. 

"But — he did not love his Savior — and did not love 
his enemies. 



A Loyal Love. 55 

"Was this man justified in the sight of God? Surely 
not; not if he had given one thousand times more than 
this. He was trying to get to heaven in his own way, 
which man cannot do, and which was his religion. No 
one can get to heaven unless he comes in the 'chariot 
of love' — God's way." 

"That man has grown up in the church and has 
regarded himself as entitled to salvation. You cannot 
say that those philanthropic works go for nothing. Why, 
he has had that preached to him all his life. Whose was 
the fault?" said the father. 

"Father, let me quietly tell you this: You might as 
well try to get to heaven by purchase, as in this way. It 
is impossible, for God says no. I grant you that these 
works are the works of faith, as well as the works of 
philanthropy, but no man can judge him in that, hut Cod 
fynoTvs. It may be done for the love of Christ; then it 
is the fruit of faith. It may be done for other purposes, 
in which case he has no love for the Lord, but Cod 
knows." 

"Well," said his father, "it seems to me like splitting 
a hair. The good works are done, the poor have found 
a friend, the children a home; men have reaped the 
benefit of this man's liberality, but who is going to say 
why it was done?" 

"You have your Bible, father. Get it out and read 
it yourself. What does St. Paul say, St. John say, or 
Christ say? There is but one n>ap, — love and faith in 
Christ. It is not what man does, but ip/rp he does it. 
The very same deed may send one man to heaven and 



56 A Loyal Love. 

the other to destruction, and this is where the preaching of 
the clergy comes in — people dorit know. 

"It is not doing good that will justify you, but 
doing good, in Christ's name. Tor whosoever shall 
give you a cup of water to drink in mp name, be- 
cause ye belong to Christ, shall not lose his reward' 

"The cup of water was nothing, but because ye belong 
to Christ, drew the reward." 



"You speak of justification of faith," said the father. 
"How about that chapter of St. James' in which he says: 
'Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being 
alone?' " 

"Being alone! Faith cannot be alone. You must 
have something to hang faith on. Faith and love are 
two very strong powers and each of them has its fruit. 
A man cannot see faith and cannot tell its power until 
he sees the result, but God can. 

"St. James says: Tor as the body without the spirit 
is dead, so faith, without works, is dead also.' 

"You cannot expect a body that is dead to do any- 
thing. It is dead." 

"And ye cannot expect a dead faith to do anything; 
it is dead also. 

"Oh, yes, there is a lot of faith in the world, but it 
is dead — the kind of faith St. James speaks of. 



"There was an estimable lady at sea once, and 



in 



A Loyal Love. 57 

a great storm the ship ran upon a rock and began sinking. 
The alarm was general. She chanced to meet the cap- 
tain, and stopped him and asked him if there was any 
danger, and he said, 

" 'I am afraid, madam, that you are in very great 
danger, and you will have to put your trust in God.' 
"And she said, 'Oh, captain, has it come to that?' 
"The poor old lady had the faith of a large part 
of the world. And let me tell you that this dead faith 
has spread to the clergy. 

"A bishop was once in his study when two church 
wardens were announced. There had been a great 
drought and the crops were suffering severely. 

' 'My lord,' said the speaker, 'do you not think it 
would be well to have prayers for rain, at the services to- 
morrow?' 

"The bishop got up, walked out on the veranda for 
a moment and said, 'Oh, I don't think so; the wind is in 
the wrong quarter.' 

"No intention of showing any lack of faith, and this 
is what the world calls faith. 

"I am no judge. These people were very estimable 
people, but it shows the average faith we have in this 
world; dead faith, which is no faith at all. We ought 
to teach man what faith is, before we can teach him to 
pray. 

"You are only wasting your time praying when you 
have no faith; the virtue is in the faith and not in the 



58 A Loyal Love. 

prayer. A prayer from a heart that is full of faith is 
bound to have an answer from God. It must be so or 
God would not be true. Don't let us pretend there is a 
God and then not trust Him. 

"Christ says to us, 'According to your faith be it 
unto you.' 



"Love and faith are the most powerful forces of na- 
ture that we have. 

"Love is most powerful because it comes from 
heaven — is a part of God — a part of God Himself, 
who is almighty, and God his installed it in man as his 
greatest passion. There is nothing a man couldn't do for 
love. 

"And faith is almost as strong, because God has 
told us that anything is possible to one who believes. 

"Don't doubt God's word because you have not seen 
it. He says that a man, by force of faith, can move a 
mountain from its seat to the deep blue sea — and it should 
obey you." 

"My boy, did you ever see a man move a mountain 
by faith? Do you mean to tell me that you really be- 
lieve in your heart that this is true? I will say more 
than that. Have you ever seen a man move the first 
stone by faith? And have you ever seen him do any- 
thing else, by faith?" 

"Why, do you ignore faith? Father, you can't do 
this. You would break up the whole church. 'By faith 
ye are saved.' 'He that believeth not is damned.' You 
don't mean this!" 



A Loyal Love. 59 

"No, I do not ignore it. I believe in faith as far as 
it is reasonable. I believe that men are sometimes healed 
by prayer, and that is acknowledged and that is reason- 
able, but then, we do not know; perhaps these very men 
would have recovered without prayer. Have you ever 
seen an impossible thing done by faith?" 

"I have never seen a dead man brought to life — 
that has been done," said the son. "I never saw a man 
walk on the water — Christ and St. Peter did. I never 
saw a blind man receive his sight by putting spittle and 
sand in his eyes, and a host of other impossible things — 
yet, we have Christ's word for them. 

"No, father, you don't understand how far faith may 
reach. You don't seem to have the least idea of the 
immense power of faith. 

"The power of faith is equal to the Spirit of God 
within a man; there is no limit. Christ says, 'And what- 
soever ye shall ask in mp name, that will I do, that the 
Father may be glorified in the Son.' 

"The faith is right — the man is wrong. 

"You will not deny that a man could move a moun- 
tain into the sea by money — if he had money enough to 
do it, but the trouble is he has not the money — and it is 
not done. 

"And likewise Christ says, 'A man could remove a 
mountain into the sea,' by faith, if he has faith enough 
to do it, but the trouble is there is no man on earth with 
that faith — and it is not done. 

"Don't blame the promise, but blame the man. What 



60 A Loyal Love. 

Christ has said, God will endorse, although it took the 
sun from the heavens, and all its satellites. 

"// you have the faith, that is where the power of 
faith comes in, and it is because of our faith being dead 
that the age of miracles is over. 

"People say, 'Oh the age of miracles is over.' 

"But it is because our faith is dead. 

"Nature has many forces and laws which these 
forces must obey. God made them so; they must obey, 
and so with love and faith; they have their laws to 
obey, and it is as religiously carried out as other of 
nature's forces. 

"The fruit of love is doing lovely things. Love will 
always chase after the object of that love, 'for love 
worketh no ill to his neighbors; therefore love is the ful- 
filling of the law.' 

"Love will always find something good for it to give, 
to do, or be, something that will give pleasure, or some- 
thing that will give happiness; something lovely to do to 
please the object of its affections. 

"And when it comes to the love we bear our Saviour, 
if we are really His, we should hate to do anything that 
He would disapprove. Nor should we want to do it; in 
fact, we hate it. This is the fruit of love, and God trusts 
its acting as certainly, as that a stone will drop to the 
ground. 

"And with that wonderful faith a man can do 
anything. 

' 'According to your faith be it unto you.' Some be- 
lieve, and some do not, these words of Christ. Christ 
alone can tell. 



A Loyal Love. 61 

"Love and faith bear fruit as well as an apple tree. 
A good tree always bears good fruit, and a bad tree 
will bear bad fruit. Christ only can tell. 

"Christ is a husbandman coming to this earth to find 
fruit trees for His garden. He wants three kinds: The 
tree of Love; the tree of Faith, and the tree of Humility, 
and He can only tell their kinds by eating the fruit they 
bear, for He says a good tree will bear good fruit and 
a bad tree will bear bad fruit. And He goes through the 
world as His nursery, looking for trees. 

"The nurseryman prepares for him. 'That block of 
trees has not borne fruit yet,' says the nurseryman. 'Then 
they will not do; I cannot have them, since I only know 
them by their fruits,' and He passes on. 

"He comes to another block and the nurseryman says, 
'There are beautiful trees, they are fine, straight, well 
topped, and among them are many loaded with fruit.' 
The visitor picks one and tastes it. It is sour as a lemon. 
'A fine looking tree, but perfectly impossible — a bad 
tree and a bad fruit.' He passes on. 

' 'Here,' said the nurseryman, 'is a beauty, a beauti- 
ful tree indeed, and loaded with fruit.' He picks a fruit 
and tastes it, and it is bitter. A beautiful tree but, 
'That is no fruit for my garden,' said the visitor. 

"He takes Him to another lot and shows Him his 
choice trees. The fruit looks very lovely — they were pic- 
tures. The visitor picked one and cut it open, it looked 
so beautiful, but it was full of maggots. What beautiful 
trees to destroy! 'Nurseryman, those trees are all use- 
less: cut them down.' 



62 A Loyal Love. 

"They passed on to the next lot. They are promising. 
'Nurseryman, do you know that I am an expert on fruit 
growing? These fruits are not the fruits of those trees at 
all; they are tied on; they have not borne them — ingen- 
iously done, and might deceive some people — but I am 
an expert; you cannot deceive me. / wanted to see the 
tree with the good fruit on it; I cannot have any of 
these.' 

** 'I have a scrub lot over yonder where the ground 
is poor,' said the nurseryman, 'but the soil here is too rich; 
the trees are rank in this nursery; it needs draining,' and 
they passed on to the scrub lot. 

"They were a sad lot. There was one little peach 
tree with one little peach upon it. The visitor went to it 
and tasted it. 

"It was delicious. 'Ah, here is what I am after — 
the good tree that bears good fruit. Nurseryman, put a 
ticket on this tree for me. In my garden that will 
grow to be a valuable tree,' and He passed on, choosing 
from this scrub lot what He had searched in His nursery 
for. It was not the fruit He wanted; He tasted that, and 
threw it away. It was the tree, the roots of which bore 
the fruit that He found so good. One little peach was 
enough to show Him what it would do in His garden. 

"And here comes in our 'Christian liberty.' Christian 
liberty is only enjoyed by those who love and believe, 
and are, therefore, Christ's. Christ has made them free 
from the law. Then they are under no law whatever; 
they are free from all law. Christ says, 'If the Son 
therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.' 



A Loyal Love. 63 

Our having love and having faith, is all Christ wants from 
us — that makes us His — and He is satisfied to take what 
fruit this love and faith will bear in us — that is our 
services. 

"Father, tell me, do you teach your people this? 
Do you teach them that without faith, prayers are simply 
wasted words that never leave their own brains, it makes 
no difference how important they are? 

"Words are no use; words are no use. There must 
be faith in Christ to make the words fruitful. It is His 
promise; without faith, it is impossible to please God. 
Remember, people do not \noro this. This is a part of 
their religion that the Church has never seen fit to give 
any prominent place, and it is of the most vital import- 
ance, but as Christ says: 

'Therefore I say unto you whatsoever 
things ye desire, when ye pray believe that ye 
receive them and ye shall receive them.' 

* 'And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in 
prayer, believing, ye shall receive.' 

' 'If thou canst believe, all things are possi- 
ble to him that believeth.' 

"Where will you take our religion where either faith 
or love is not the crown teaching of the passage; and yet 
when I am celebrating the Holy Communion and lead- 
ing the people in the general confession, I can scarcely 
utter those words: 



64 A Loyal Love. 

** 'We do earnestly repent and are heartily 
sorry for these our misdoings. The remem- 
brance is grievous unto us. The burden of 
them is intolerable.' 

I say I can scarcely utter these words — utter them to 
God who knows the hearts, knows perfectly well the 
'intolerable burden we have to bear. Oh think how much 
He must hate us for the falsehood. I say I can scarcely 
bear these words. 

1 'We acknowledge and bewail our mani- 
fold sins and wickedness which we have griev- 
ously committed, provoking Thy wrath and in- 
dignation against us.' 

Then we go out again into the world, that world which 
God tells us is His enemy, and, if you are a friend of the 
world you cannot be a friend of His; we go out into 
the world, living its old life and enjoying it. 

"Not bad lives perhaps, the devil does not want us to 
lead bad lives; but after the communion of love, to lead 
worldly lives, unchristian lives — malicious, hateful, re- 
vengeful, angry, unforgiving, envying, all of which things 
Christ hates. How can we tell Him that lie? How can 
I tell Him that lie? 'A burden intolerable." 

"Say our children were to treat us in the same way 
and tell us every Sunday morning that their sins against 
us had, during the week, been an 'intolerable burden' and 
that they had earned our wrath and indignation, and 
ask forgiveness. And come again with this same story the 



A Loyal Love. 65 

next week, and every week, and never once try to im- 
prove, with never an idea of doing better. 

"What should we think? 

"How, think you, that God looks upon it? 

"These are all a matter of form, and only a matter of 
form. These things have been going on for centuries, 
and people go through the form simply because it is a 
form. It has been practiced for centuries and the Church 
has always done it. 

"You must remember, father, there have been wicked 
men in the Church, as well as good, and we cannot tell 
what they may not have done. All we know is that, be- 
tween them, they have totally changed in its habits, a 
church of Christ, into a church for the world." 

"Well, my dear boy, what do you want? What 
can you do? You can't change the Church. Do you 
want another Reformation? For my part, I have never 
thought of these things you speak of. I have looked upon 
the Church as Christ's representative, and I have taken 
for granted that it was what Christ placed here. I am 
afraid that we take a great deal for granted." 

"Why, father, look at the Church today and the 
Church in the apostles' time. Can you see any resem- 
blance? 

"In the early times, a few devoted people, men 
and women; poor for Christ's sake; no places of wor- 
ship; persecuted, punished for being Christians; thrown to 
the lions for being faithful to Christ, the bishops of the 
Church being the chief sufferers. 



66 A Loyal Love. 

"See what St. Paul went through as bishop of the 
Church. What do you think of that for a bishop, with 
the care of all the churches besides? He says: 

"' 'Of the Jews five times received I forty 
stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with 
rods. Once I was stoned. Thrice I have suf- 
fered shipwreck — a night and a day have I 
spent in the deep; in journeying often, in perils 
of water, in perils of robbers, in perils of my 
own countrymen, in perils by the heathens, in 
perils of the city, in perils of the wilderness, 
in perils of the sea, in perils amongst false breth- 
ren, in weariness and painfulness, in watching 
often; in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in 
cold and nakedness. 

' 'Even unto this present hour we both hun- 
ger and thirst, and are buffeted, and have no 
certain dwelling place. And labor, working 
with our hands, being reviled, we bless — being 
persecuted, we suffer it, being defamed, we en- 
treat; we are made as the offscouring of all 
things unto this day.' 



"And for what? For so much a year? 

"No; perish the money! Money did not come into 
the Church at that time. St. Paul worked for the love 
of Christ and so did everyone else. Money was looked 
upon as a part of the world, and the apostles would not 
have any of the world to help them. No one ever made 



A Loyal Love. 67 

a charge for anything he did for the Church. That was 
a delight, and a service to Christ. 

"Christ sent His apostles once, as missionaries to in- 
struct the heathen nations. His instructions were simply 
these : 

* 'Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor 
brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey. 
Neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves; 
for the workman is worthy of his meat.' 
"And again, when He sent the Seventy out to preach : 

' 'Carry neither purse nor scrip, nor shoes.' 

"And they went, and remained out some time cast- 
ing out devils, healing the sick, shedding abroad love. 

"And when they came back Christ asks them, 'Did 
ye lack anything when I sent you out without purse, 
scrip or shoes?' And they said 'Nothing, Lord.' They 
were delighted at the wonderful miracles they had done. 

"These men were sent out by God to preach His 
gospel. Do you suppose that God would not have given 
them everything that they needed? What kind of a God 
do we serve? 

"How different is the Church today! Nothing done 
except for money. It is all money, but no love. 



"I was traveling in a third-class carriage in Ireland 
the other day. There were five passengers; opposite me 
a young woman was seated, perhaps about twenty. She 
was reading a Bible, so I moved over to her side and 



68 A Loyal Love. 

I asked her, which was her favorite chapter, and she 

said, 'Oh, they are all my favorite chapters.' So we 

drifted into conversation. 
HI? 1 *•! »< 

"I soon found out that she was a preacher, which 

interested me considerably. I asked her, 'Are you a 

Salvation Army lassie?' And she said 'No.' 

" 'Who are you preaching for?' 

" 'The Lord, Jesus Christ.' 

" 'But who sent you out to preach?' 

She said, 'The Lord, Jesus Christ.' 

" 'Why I know, but who sent you out to preach, 
the S. P. C. K., or the Church Missionary Society?' 
She said, 'The Lord, Jesus Christ,' and I said: 

" 'Who pays you?' 

"She looked me squarely in the eyes for one moment, 
wonderingly. 

" 'Who pays me? Who pays me for telling people 
Christ died for love of them? Are you a preacher?' 

"I said, shamefully, 'Yes.' 

" 'Do you mean to tell me that you take money to 
tell children how much their Saviour loves them and how 
sweet He is? Do you accept money for that?* 

"She gave me her opinion of our church, our bishops 
and our priests. She was not angry, but she was indig- 
nant as though they had offered her money. Every word 
she spoke was as true as God's truth. 

"Bishops drawing their thousands a year, priests 
drawing their hundreds, all kinds of church livings and 
titles, dignitaries, at exceedingly remunerative considera- 



A Loyal Love. 69 

tions, churches built for the honor and glory of God — 

"With what money? 

"Money worked for in pledges, sales, bazaars, garden 
parties, begged, shows, and anything else to attract two 
pence toward paying for a church for the 'honor and 
glory of God.' 

"Fancy that, father, 'for the honor and glory of 
God!' To the honor and glory of the Being who made 
the sun, planted this constellation, framed the moon — 
One, to Whom space is a playground, and eternity His 
existence — to the honor and glory of such a God! 
When a church that the world itself could not contain, 
made of gold and diamonds and precious stones, with 
the skill, the grace and beauty of the world combined to 
beautify it, would be as nothing! 

"He asks but one thing from man, his love, and He 
cannot get it. 

"Pay money, money, but not one thing of love. All 
was for money. Do you suppose that God would aid 
such a church as that? 

"However, she dealt the last blow in her indignation. 
Yes, perfectly true; that was the trouble; that was the 
trouble; it was perfectly true. 

"I said, 'Will you please tell me how you manage?' 

"And she said, 'I stop in a town and go around the 
streets and tell them what the Lord has done for them, 
and me.' 

"I said, 'Where will you stay tonight?' 

"She said, 'Somebody will ask me to stay.' 

"I said, 'Where will you dine?' 



70 A Loyal Love. 

"She said, 'I don't know; somebody will probably ask 
me to have some dinner. I have been preaching for 
three years and have only spent one night in the benches 
of the parks. The Lord has sent me to preach and / 
trust Him and He will provide. I have no fear.' 

"I wanted to do something for her, but she would 
take nothing. I wanted to give her a Bible, for hers was 
in pieces, but she said 'The Lord will send me one when 
I need it.' 

"The train stopped and she got off. My soul! My 
soul! What a woman! 'Verily, verily, I say unto 
you that I have not found so great faith, no, not in 
Israel.' Here were her ways of preaching the gospel just 
as her Lord had taught her, as He had taught the apos- 
tles in the early times. 

"And what is the Church's way today? 

"I do not criticize; as I say, I am no judge and per- 
haps I am quite wrong, but it seems to me that if I 
wanted to preach Christ, crucified, His love for us, and 
our love for each other, and for Him, in the lowly way 
He wishes us to worship, I should do as the example He 
showed me. 

"This young girl was almost uneducated. Hie les- 
sons she had learned, she had learned thoroughly. 

"She loved her God as she loved nothing else on 
earth. 

"She loved her neighbor as herself. 

"And the lesson of humility she had learned in her 
early days. 



A Loyal Love. 71 

"The Christian religion is not a religion for educated 
people. It is for poor people. 

"' 'Go tell John,' said Christ, 'how the poor have the 
gospel preached unto them/ and not the rich. 

"The poor were Christ's friends; the poor loved 
Christ and He loved them. The poor annointed Him, 
wept over Him, saw Him die, were first to meet Him 
at His early resurrection. The poor were His lovers." 

"Father, if you will believe me, this is all a Christian 
needs to know. 

"We have theological seminaries to train our men to 
preach the gospel, — say it takes four years. Four years, 
to teach a man, to teach another, that Jesus Christ died on 
the cross here, through love for man — simply to save his 
life. And those who believe in Him and love Him shall 
never die. It does not take a great deal of learning. 

"If I were examiner chaplain for missionaries, I 
should say: 

' 'Do you believe in Christ with all your soul?' 

" 'Yes/ 

"' 'Do you love Him with all your heart?' 
Yes. 

" 'Do you trust Him implicitly P' 

" 'Yes.' 
' 'Then you are passed for China.' 

*' 'Faith and love are all you have to teach, and trust 
in God for your daily bread. My blessing go with 
you, you man of God. 'The workman is worthy of his 
hire;' the Lord will see it paid." 



72 A Loyal Love. 

"And have your church full of ignoramuses," said 
his father. "A pretty mess you would make of it. You 
must have gentlemen in the Church — it stamps a man 
as a gentleman. You can't have every Tom, Dick and 
Harry. You must be educated, go through the course, 
and come out of it fit for society, and the Church, too. 
Why, a man's popularity depends upon his gentlemanly 
bearing." 

"I say, dad, I was in a butcher shop the other day, 
and the man said to me, 

* 'How long does it take to write a sermon?' 
"'Well,' I said, 'that depends; sometimes it takes 
some men a long time. Sometimes he has a good deal 
of reading to do, or studying, or thinking, but most men 
can write a sermon in an afternoon.' 

' 'Well,' he said, 'that is strange. How long was 
he studying theology?" 
"Four or five years." 

' 'Well,' he said. 'A lady comes in here to buy a 
leg of mutton. I don't have to preach her a sermon about 
that leg of mutton. I know all about it; that is my busi- 
ness. 

' 'I can tell her how old it is, whether it is fat. I 
can tell her if it is good stock or not. I can tell when it 
was killed; whether it is tender or tough, where it had 
grazed and, if she wants to know, how to boil it or how 
to roast it, and if she wants to argue, I could argue half 
an hour on it. Why can't you do that with your re- 
ligion? Don't you know your business?' 



A Loyal Love. 73 

"And my private opinion is, the more man knows of 
this world's teaching, the less will he be inclined to be- 
lieve in the Christian religion. 

"As I said before, father, / criticize no man; I judge 
no man; they may be all right for all I know. But this 
is the way it strikes me. If I have to preach for Christ 
I will certainly do it in a way that Christ, Himself, has 
taught, and as He has set the example, trusting in Him 
for everything that is needful, and if it doesn't come, 
doing without it; preaching His love by preaching our 
faith in Him, and showing it by living in Him; preaching 
His humility and showing it by what I am doing, ex- 
actly as this child did; and, as St. Paul says, *I am 
determined to know nothing among you, but Jesus Christ 
and Him crucified. ' 

"Unless you serve God in His own way, all in all, 
you might just as well not serve at all. As Christ says, 
'Count the cost of the tower you propose to build, and if 
you cannot finish it, then do not start.' 

"How can a man go out to teach men to believe and 
trust in God, when he won't trust Him, himself, for his 
very living, and wants to be paid by other men a stipu- 
lated sum before he begins? 

"If they would send out a notice to all missionaries 
and clergymen connected with the Church, that hence- 
forth they must depend upon Cod for a living; that in 
future, no more money would be paid ; that they must 
first show their own faith in God, before teaching 
faith; that God would send them what was necessary, 



74 A Loyal Love. 

and at home their aid would come to them in the shape 
of prayers, what would happen? 

"Just what happened in the olden times. 

"The real Christians would separate themselves 
from the world and help each other; and the rest go 
home. And it seems to me that the olden times must 
come again before we are in God's favor. A perfect 
dependence upon Him!" 

"Pardon me, my boy," said his father, "you talk like 
a fool. Money is just as necessary in the Church as 
anywhere else. The Church must pay her debts. Neither 
in the Church in Christ's time, nor now, can anything be 
done without money. The Church would go to pieces 
in six months without money. See how the saints sent 
money to each other." 

"When you say 'the Church would go to pieces in 
six months,' you are doubtless speaking of the Christian 
Church today, and it is very true. It would not stand 
six months, but do you think that that was the kind of 
church which God's Son came to earth to establish and 
die for? 

"Was this, to be the bride? 

"Ah, no. About His church there is to be nothing of 
the world. The world is His enemy, and the money the 
Church did use was not for wages, but to buy food. 
They were entirely distinct from their enemy in the 
world. They were in the world, but not of the world. 

"They used the world much as we use an hotel, as a 
place to stay while here; our bed and board is here and 
sustains us, but we have no thought or interest in the 



A Loyal Love. 75 

hotel. Success or failure does not interest us. Our home 
and business is at our home beyond. God wants His 
men to go out trusting to Himself, just as Abraham did 
when he stretched out the knife to slay his son. 

"Take what is sent and be thankful. If they cannot 
do that they have greatly mistaken their calling, for if they 
are trying to make other people believe what they them- 
selves do not believe, they are imposters. 

"No, father, a man who serves Christ as he should, 
gives up the world. How often it comes — 'You cannot 
serve two masters.' To give the world is nothing for 
heaven. 

"If we would take St. Paul as our guide, (and who 
is better known by Christians), and we took from him 
what he calls the 'fruit of the spirit' as our mentor or 
instructor, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, 
faith, meekness, patience, temperance, I would venture 
with these graces to bring more souls to Christ, than with 
a headfull of Theology, Greek, Latin and Hebrew and 
the Fathers, too, for the former would bring us to heaven, 
whereas the latter might not. 

"I would like to know, father, your views of the 
resurrection and what you teach. There seems to be a 
wonderful amount of ignorance of an event which must 
come sometime, and probably soon. In fact, it is not 
ignorance, but disbelief." 

"Well, I do not suppose I have ever preached on 
the resurrection in my life. There never has been a 
resurrection and God knows when there will be. Don't 



76 A Loyal Love. 

you think it is better to give the people something of more 
interest? Preach of life and not of death; and besides, 
what can you say?" 

"You can say a lot and which they ought to know. 

"The whole Christian religion stands upon the resur- 
rection. You might as well burn your church as hide 
the resurrection. 

"This is the priest's duty, to see that his people know 
these things, as far as we are taught by the New Testa- 
ment. 

"People do not believe in the resurrection. They be- 
lieve in many things, in spirits, in souls, and part of the 
resurrection, but not in the absolute resurrection of the 
body as we have it here on earth — the whole and living 
body. 

"Without this faith this Christian religion fails." 
"Why boy, you do not mean to say that you really 
believe that our bodies, after the resurrection, will be 
identical with those we had on earth? There must be 
some change. It cannot be the same; our nature must 
change." 



"Father, as the grain of wheat, is like the parent grain 
of wheat, with all its possibilities, so is the risen body 
of a man, like what the man was when on this earth. His 
tastes, his appetites, his instincts, his loves, his desires, 
they still sleep in him until the resurrection. 

"What is sown must be reaped. It is a law of nature, 



ALoyal Love. 77 

and man will be man once more. There can be no ques- 
tion about this. 

"St. Paul is clear on it. Every muscle, every nerve, 
answers to the suggestions of the brain. The bodies 
are identical, so much so that we will hardly believe 
that we have been dead." 

"In that case," said his father, "what about marriage? 
Christ says that there is no marriage in heaven. This 
would show you that the human body is not the same 
before, and after, resurrection. It is absolutely impossi- 
ble that St. Paul can be right." 



"Father, as far as the marriage service is concerned, 
it shared the fate of all human laws, its abrogation. 

"It had served its time when necessary, for man was 
vile. Now, it was no longer so. And since there is 
no law in heaven, there is no sin, but the law of love 
which God hath made to rule His people in infinite 
happiness. 

"God, who made man, and knows him, knows best 
how to guard his happiness. St. Paul says, 'Unto the 
pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled 
and unbelieving is nothing pure.' 

"With no resurrection Christ did not rise. If Christ 
did not rise, the whole of God's previous promises are 
swept away. If there be no resurrection then there is 
no Christ. 



78 A Loyal Love. 

"It is the one thing we must believe to be a Christian, 
and if we do not believe it, we are not Christ's. 

"The resurrection is God's method of keeping the 
bodies of dead men for an indefinite time. 

"The sleep of death comes over them, and they are 
buried and decay away, and in years come to dust 
again. At the resurrection God wants these men back, 
and calls them in their bodies, as they went. 

"Do you not think that this second advent of these 
men, by resurrection, would be much more simple and 
far less wonderful than their first advent, at birth? 

"Nothing could be more wonderful than that. If 
they believe that, and they know it; yet their faith stag- 
gers at far less wonderful things. 

"If Christ did not rise, the whole Christian religion is 
utterly swept away. Christ's sacrifice was nothing, no 
more than the two thieves who were crucified with Him, 
if He did not rise. 

"Christ did not conquer death if He did not rise; nor 
the grave, if He did not rise, and we shall die, too, and 
that will be the end of us. 

"But when He rose, He had some six hundred wit- 
nesses, some of them ate and drank, walked and talked 
with Him. He spent forty days with the disciples, and 
they who close their hearts to Him, will have to ac- 
knowledge the resurrection when it comes. 

"St. Paul says: 

' 'For if we believe that Jesus died and rose 



A Loyal Love. 79 

again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus, 
will God bring with Him.' 

" 'For the Lord, Himself, shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 
archangel and with the trump of God, and 
the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we 
which are alive and remain, shall be caught up 
together with them in the clouds to meet the 
Lord in the air and so shall we be ever with 
the Lord.' 
"Now these are St. Paul's words, our trustworthy, 
who received his teachings from Christ. 

"But remember, it is only those who love Christ above 
all, who will mount." 



"Do you know," said his father, "I never noticed 
that the resurrection should be in the air. I naturally 
supposed it would be on earth. I supposed the Judgment 
would be there, but it seems not. The judgment of such 
a concourse of people would take a hundred years; in 
fact, we do not know anything about it." 

"Father, that is just where you are mistaken. Christ 
has told us perfectly plainly what will take place. We 
shall have to judge ourselves, and not the Lord, but He 
will see that we do it fairly. 

"Christ has invariably told His children that heaven is 
only for those who love Him, but for no one else; not for 
what man calls good lives; that makes no difference; 
love alone will bear you up to meet Him in the clouds: 



80 A Loyal Love. 

"You must be Christ's, or you will not rise. 
"First, the dead bodies rise. Then the voice of 
Christ shall ring: 

' 'All ye that love Me rise to meet Me 
in the clouds.' 

"All they upon the earth who really love the Lord 
and are glad to see Him — and Christ knows every one 
by name — they will all rise to meet Him, as Christ rose 
at the ascension. 

"All those who have not loved our Lord — all those 
who are mistaken in their love — all who have not made 
Christ their first love, will stay upon earth, and after 
Christ has received His own, they are taken to heaven 
forever. 

"But those who remained on the earth will be 
destroyed, 'in which the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat; the earth also, and the works that are within shall 
be burnt up.' 

"All those who love Him will escape this death; all 
who do not love Him shall be left on earth and 
destroyed, body, soul and spirit." 

"This would seem to be like a man judging him- 
self," said his father. "What is your authority for this?" 

"This is all we are told about it. Christ says He 
will come in the clouds; and from there will invite all 
that love Him to come to Him, — all those who are glad 
of His appearing. Their love will bear them up to 
Him. Then God leaves the earth, with His chosen, and 
destruction will end the world. 



A Loyal Love. 81 

"Have you ever noticed how we were meant to un- 
derstand that sleep is the condition of a dead man? The 
man is dead, but the better part of the man, the soul, is 
not dead, and only waiting in Hades for the resurrection 
of the body " 

"Yes, that may be, but there are a great many opin- 
ions on this subject. I do not believe that yours is popu- 
lar. As a matter of fact, I do not think that the people 
believe anything. They seem to think that once you are 
dead, that is the end of you; in fact, that this life ends 
their existence." 

"What a mistake! What a mistake! How little 
they think that the resurrection is only their birthday! 
That the real life is only beginning then, the life of which 
St. Paul saysi 

'' 'Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither 
hath entered into the heart of man, the things 
God hath prepared for those that love Him.' 

Love Him, father, only to love Him, as our Lord says: 

"' 'God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.' 

"And certainly, every Christian who has been born 
into this world since Christ's time, is alive today in hades, 
awaiting the resurrection and asleep, by what St. John, 
St. Matthew and St. Paul tell us. 

' 'Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,' says Christ. 'I go 
that I may wake him out of his sleep.' His disciples 
thought that he had spoken of taking a rest in sleep. 

"Christ said of the maiden: 'Hie maid is not dead, 
but sleepeth.' 



82 A Loyal Love. 

"St. Paul tells us that 'for this cause many sleep.' 
Then again, 'We shall not all sleep. Those who sleep in 
Jesus will God bring with him.' At the resurrection St. 
Matthew said: 'Many bodies of saints which slept, arose.' 
St. Paul said of Jesus, 'He became the first fruits of them 
that slept.' 

"Asleep in Hades or hell, and Christ tells us 
what they are waiting for; 'waiting for the resurrection,' 
'when every man and every woman who loves Me shall 
rise to meet Me in the air.' 

"And I distinctly think, father, that this place 'hell,' 
to which all men go, good and bad, should be explained 
more fully. 

"Many people do not know that there are two words 
in the Greek Testament, of two different places, for two 
different purposes, in two different localities, but only 
under the one name (hell), in the English Bible. 

"The first is 'Hades' and the second is 'Gehenna.' 
So many people do not know there are two hells, and 
why they have not made this change, I do not know; 
why do they not give the names in the Greek Testament? 
'Hades' and 'Gehenna'? 

"It is reprehensible in a matter of so much importance, 
that of hell, it is criminal. They must have their in- 
dividual names, or 'hell' has no meaning — 

"Hades, or hell, is the place where all departed 
spirits go and sleep until the resurrection. All people 
who have died are today in Hades, good and bad. 



A Loyal Love. 83 

"Paradise is in Hades, and it was in Hades that 
Christ went while His body was in the grave. The 
Creed calls it 'hell.' 

"Some people are happy there and some are un- 
happy. Those who love the Lord must be happy any- 
where. Those who do not, — their lives or dreams 
must vary according to their lives on earth; but when 
Hades ceases to be, which will be at the resurrection, 
gehenna will take its place, the resurrection of the body 
dividing the two, one before and the other after. 

"Gehenna, or 'hell' is quite different. This place is 
not in operation yet. No one knows what that hell is. 
It is a place of fire, a place of destruction where lost 
souls are consumed. Hell is not torture, but in a fraction 
of a second's time, extermination and annihilation of 
body, soul and spirit; they are cremated everlastingly 
and are as dead as though they had never been. All 
who offend God shall perish, and this we call 'hell' 
also." 

"Oh, that is a very dangerous teaching, my boy. If 
men once learned that hell is no suffering, but simply 
where one was winked out, they would say at once, 
'What is the use of trying to get to heaven? We can 
have this life, and then we die — and no pains.' I con- 
sider this a very dangerous teaching." 

"Father, you can't call the truth 'a dangerous teach- 
ing.' The trouble with me today is that the truth is 
not preached. What we want in the pulpit is more 
truth — it must be preached. 



84 A Loyal Love. 

"You cannot frighten a man into heaven. You might 
as well try to frighten him into loving a woman. You 
can't. Love and faith are powers above man. 

"People use this word 'hell' to describe anything hor- 
rible, but it is not so. Perhaps I do not feel as some 
others, but father, I will just tell you what I think about 
hell. 



"There is no place to go to but heaven or hell. 

"Heaven is a place of positive happiness; hell, I 
take it, to be a place of negative happiness. 

"Perhaps this surprises you. I do not ask you to 
preach this to your people, but I am going to tell you 
what I believe. 

"God is merciful. He doesn't give us a choice be- 
tween life and death and then punish us for choosing 
wrong. 

"What punishment we have we draw upon our- 
selves — our punishment is in losing heaven. Such punish- 
ment as this, is incomparable. 

"When the body dies, the soul goes to hades, and there 
sleeps the sleep of death. The body is dead, but the 
soul, or spirit, which is the best part, is asleep in hades. 

"Dreams belong to the soul, and not to the body; 
it is not a function of the body or brain. When you are 
under the influence of an anaesthetic, although your body 
is perfectly dead, and brain, too, you sometimes have 
sweet dreams, and your dreams belong to the soul, and 
not to the body. 



A Loyal Love. 85 

"And the people in hades, whose bodies are dead, 
dream much as they would on earth, for the dream func- 
tion has not changed because of its habitation, for 
its habitation is the same; it still has its soul and its 
dreams as usual. 

"And as some dream of heaven now, so some dream 
of earth and its life here, — or anything. According to a 
man's life here, would his dreams be, as it is on earth. 

"A wicked man would have a nightmare, while the 
man who loved his Lord, — his dream would be a de- 
light. 

"A man who had lived a wicked life, — his dreams 
would naturally be wicked — a nightmare — perhaps horri- 
ble. 

"And to the man who loved the Lord, — what a 
land of peace and joy, and both in hades. 

"This is not God's doing; it is our own — dreaming of 
the life we had on earth — everything from a hideous 
nightmare to an unalloyed happiness. This is our own 
doing, not God's. 

"There is no measure of time in sleep; a day, a year, 
a thousand years, all are the same while we sleep. And 
St. Paul, himself, must leave his joyous dream to rise at 
the resurrection, hardly believing that he had been dead 
at all. It was but yesterday eve that he was at Rome — 
today, his resurrection. 

"Few people know that they are dead; the resur- 
rection will be a revelation to them — the end of time has 
come. 

"And now hades is empty and done forever, and 



86 A Loyal Love. 

dreams are the worst that has been, be they happi- 
ness or agony, and we are alive again. 

"The resurrection, we know. Christ comes and in 
words of thunder that every ear can hear, He gives an 
invitation to those who love Him to join Him in the 
clouds, and here is the time of 'gnashing of teeth.' 

"So hades and the resurrection are past. 

"And now comes the other hell, gehenna, the place 
of destruction. The world must be destroyed by fire, 
'and the firmament melt with fervent heat.' ' 

"Well,' said his father, "you seem to know all about 
it. May I ask you what is your authority. How do 
you know all this?" 

"Simply from what I read in my Testament. All 
this is very clear and I think you shall see it; but what 
happens now no man can tell. 

"This is gehenna, the destroying hell. Although no 
man can tell, yet you will acknowledge that a man, on 
whose mind this has been a constant thought, might have 
some better idea than the mind that never thought of it. 

"We say hades is closed over — empty. 

"We say the resurrection is past, the wise people have 
gone to heaven; so that is over and past; and the foolish 
ones are still on earth. 

"God has left the earth now; all His loved ones are 
at home with Him, and the condemned are still upon 
earth awaiting their execution. 



A Loyal Love. 87 

"God only knows how He will work — 'For who hath 
known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His 
counsellor' — 'God's will be done.' 

"But let us insignificant beings imagine this world to 
be like an egg, as it is. It has a shell like an egg, on 
which we live; and as an egg is full of meat, so is this 
world full of fire, for the interior of this world is seven 
thousand miles of living and burning fire — and God has 
cursed the world. 

"We imagine this egg suspended in space. 

"Perhaps the Ruler of the universe, after the resur- 
rection, might order a comet twice as big as our egg to 
go and wipe out the sin spot from before Him, for it is 
His enemy — an offense to Him. 

"The comet traveled three million miles a day, and it 
ojbeyed, and as it bore down upon the earth, men can 
see it come, and no help is near, for God is gone. 

"It will take two months for the comet to reach the 
earth and occasion the darkening of the sun. 



"Can you imagine a cricket ball traveling three mil- 
lion miles a day colliding with a suspended egg in space? 
Not one soul on earth would ever know what had hap- 
pened. 

"The world, the rocks and the sea, and they who 
loved them so, in a fraction of time, would be a holo- 
caust in space, and the world and its lovers would know 
it no more. 



88 A Loyal Love. 

"The wise are in heaven and safe forever; but where 
are the foolish? 

"They have become extinct in the second death. 

"No more anxiety for them, no more tears, no more 
suffering, no more pain, no disappointment, no distress or 
regrets, for they are dead. 

"They are now what they were before they were 
born. 

"So those in hell have a negative happiness, while 
those in heaven have the positive. 



"You do not speak of the millenium; what about one 
thousand years with Christ?" asked the father. 

"When Christ gave us this Testament, He gave it with 
a special end in view. It was the gospel telling us of 
the good news. 

"It began with Christ's birth and ended with His 
death, and gave us the fullest information by word and 
and example, sealed with His authority, the way to do 
His will, but not once is the millenium mentioned. 

"The Testament is a complete book, and yet we hear 
nothing of the Apocalypse. 

"When Christ says, 'Other sheep I have not of this 
fold,' perhaps these wonderful creatures were of them, 
but certain it is that the New Testament contains our 
whole duty to God and if we live within its laws* 
Christ has promised us eternal life. 

"If there were anything else needed it would have 
been there. 



A Loyal Love. 89 

"It seems to me a wonderful thing that the Church 
encourages her people to do the very things that Christ 
tells us will keep us out of heaven. 

"For instance, in the matter of money; I take money 
because it is the first thing in the world. 

"Who is the important man in the Church? The 
man with the money — the rich man, and the richer he is, 
the more important. 

"And what does our Lord say to His disciples? 

"" 'It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye 
than for a rich man to enter heaven.' 

"It deprecates riches in every form or shape; it warns 
us to keep clear of this evil, for 'If you gain the whole 
world and lose your own soul, what would it profit 
you?' 

"Christ and the Church evidently do not think alike." 

"Well, as I have said before, my boy, you cant 
preach that to business men; you preach that and you 
drive them from church It is right, of course it is right; 
at the same time you cannot preach that they shall not 
make money." 

"Then where is the Church's duty? 

"Shall we preach what men like, or shall we preach 
what God likes? For if I pleased man, I should not be 
the servant of God. 

"Where God's law and man's law clash, our duty is 
on the Lord's side, to make it perfectly plain to them that 
they are doing a thing at their peril, and that risk must 



90 A Loyal Love. 

be very great. They are warned, but only one in a 
thousand will listen to it. 

"It is not the money that keeps them out of heaven, 
but it is the attractions that the world has for the rich 
man in its multitudinous forms and shapes that our hu- 
man nature (without God's help) cannot withstand. 

"What Christ denounces here and condemns, the 
Church looks upon with covetous eyes, for this is perhaps 
the most highly esteemed in our eyes. Christ knew this 
better than we do. He knew how impossible it was; 
therefore He said, flee temptation and be safe. 

"Now take education, which perhaps is more highly 
esteemed than money. 

"Why do we want to educate our children? 

"First of all, because society demands it, and sec- 
ondly, because the better we are educated, the higher 
positions we can get in the world. It brings us wealth; it 
brings us honor; it brings uus seats among the mighty; it 
flatters our pride; it makes us somebody, and a great deal 
more besides. And the Church is very strong on educa- 
tion. By all means, let every child be educated." 

"Quite right," said his father. "Every child should 
be educated. A man who does not educate his children 
should be taken up for robbery; he robs them of success 
in life; he is a robber." 

"Gently, father. You are looking at it from the 
world's point of view. 

"What does Christ say? Let us see what our Testa- 
ment says. 



A Loyal Love. 91 

"Christ tells us, 'For that which is highly esteemed 
among men is abomination in the sight of God ' There 
is no uncertain sound about that. 

" 'God has chosen the foolish things of this world 
to confound the wise.* 

" 'If any man seemeth to be wise in this 
world, let him become a fool that he may be 
wise.' 

" "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise 
and bring to nothing the understanding of the 
prudent.' 

" 'Hath not God made foolish the wisdom 
of this world.' 

And in other places He deprecates what we call educa- 
tion. 

"Remember, God does not disparage His own Son's 
'instruction' — that is a very different matter. 

"It is the worldly wisdom that he denounces — men 
educated by His enemy, the world, in the enemy's ways, 
and to the enemy's advantage — which leads so many 
astray, and the world delights in scattering through the 
land. 

"Christ died, to teach men the way to everlasting 
life. 

"He appointed His apostles as His teachers, and 
commanded them to teach to man, what they had heard 
from Him — the way to heaven — I say, let us teach our 
children that first. 



92 A Loyal Love. 

"The earth is the world's, and children are educated 
jor the world.. Everything is done for them that can 
elevate them and make them great and good citizens — 
of what? Of God's enemy, the world! 

"You are training your child to belong to the world, 
Christ's enemy, and you are making a very good at- 
tempt at it. 

"Considering that God is almighty, and humanity 
such a plaything in His hands, is it marvelous that He 
should tell us how foolish we are in His sight, and show 
us His contempt for our learning by saying: 

' 'For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with 
God.' 

"How much rather say, and learn from God, 
' 'But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His 
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto 
you! 

"What is your argument? What would you do with 
schools? What kind of a world would you have?" 
asked the father. 

"I have no argument. I simply say, is it not strange 
that the Church should not see her children educated in 
something pertaining to their future life, their eternal life, 
instead of devoting their time and money to benefit this 
life?" 

"Would you not send your children to school?" 

"Yes certainly — but they should learn the most im- 
portant things first^teach them first the road to heaven." 



A Loyal Love. 93 

"Take a man and a child; the man is a highly edu- 
cated man. His reason and all his faculties are fully 
trained — a man of judgment. The child knows nothing. 

"Father, which of these two do you thing you could 
more easily persuade to believe an impossible story? 

"For the Christ story, to human reason, is an im- 
possible story. 

"/* is all faith; God has made it so, — no proof — 
gospel story. 

"Our Saviour, Christ, had no human father. God, 
the Creator of the universe, of another world, was His 
Father. He came to earth and lived as no other man 
lived. He walked upon the water. The storm and the 
sea obeyed Him. He did impossible things. 

"They crucified Him and He brought Himself to 
life on the third day. He then lifted Himself from the 
earth to heaven, in spite of the law of gravitation. 

"He told the people that He was a king, and told 
them if they loved Him, their dead bodies should rise 
from their graves — just as they were here — and they 
would live with Him for eternity. He would come in 
the clouds of heaven to claim them. 

"These are all impossibilities, and no trained and 
balanced mind can receive them, except it be of those 
of whom our Lord speaks, when he says: 

' 'No man can come to Me unless the Father draw 
him.' 

"And again, He says, 'I say unto you that no man 



94 A Loyal Love. 

can come unto Me except it were given unto him of 
my Father.' 

"You cannot believe a thing or not, just as you 
choose. People think they can put off believing until 
they are on their deathbeds. It is folly. 

"Faith is the rarest thing in life, much less in death, 
and especially after a man has been trained not to be- 
lieve such an improbable thing. 

"If you want to believe, you have to begin at the 
beginning; let it be the first thing a child should know, 
and God must draw him. 

"The child believes it all because it thinks you know 
best, believes it all solemnly. 

"Doctor Osier, I think it was, kept a record of five 
hundred deaths that he had attended. The record read: 

' 'One died in exultation; three or four were greatly 
frightened, — died in terror; and all of the rest of the five 
hundred passed away as they had been born, knowing 
nothing, caring nothing; without knowing where they 
were going.' 

' 'One soul out of five hundred, died in exultation.' 
What a world! — What wisdom! 

"The world always imagines the Christian religion to 
be one of thorns and briars, full of footfalls and snares, 
disappointments, etc., etc., a religion in which one can 
never do what one wants to do, and must always do what 
one does not want to do. The Christian religion is a 
bugbear that mars all kinds of amusements, engagements 



A Loyal Love. 95 

and pleasure. Now this is the world's opinion, but only 
the world's This is the devil's work. Take the other 
side. 

"Anyone who loves the Lord will find it a bed of 
roses. Take the old apostles, St. Paul and St. Peter 
both, when chained in their prisons, could praise their 
God and thank Him for all His mercies. 

"To the World it is just as described; it is a bugbear; 
but when one can pray in earnest that 'Thy will be done, 
not mine,' bitterness loses its force, and it becomes a 
joy, but they do not know this until they try it. 

"St. Paul says, 'If in this life only we have hope in 
Christ, we are of all men most miserable.' 

"But our religion is meant to take us to another 
world, not this world, and it is the hope and prospect of 
reaching there, that make all these bitter disappoint- 
ments shorn of their bitterness, and a joy. 



"You remember our Lord's parable of the 'pearl 
merchant' who found one pearl of immense value. 

"He was enraptured at the find and thought to buy it, 
for in that pearl he saw a princely fortune, and now he 
could look on the wealth of an Indian prince, but he 
had not bought it yet. 

"He asks the price, and the reply is: 

" 'Everything you have.' 

"He was staggered, but he must have that pearl at 
any cost; he must have it. 



96 A Loyal Love. 

"He gathered together his money and other pearls 
he had, and all his belongings, but it was not enough. 

"He borrowed money; it was not enough. 

"He sold his hat, his coat, and his boots, until at last 
he stood with barely enough to cover his nakedness — all 
gone — a complete wreck, but, he had his pearl 

"Was he happy? The happiest day of his life. He 
had not the means of buying a biscuit for his dinner. He 
must sleep in the fields, for he had not money to pay for 
a bed. Was he glad? He was uproariously glad. 

" *You have nothing to eat?' 

" *I don't want anything to eat.' 

" *You have no place to sleep?' 

" 'I don't want it.* 

" *You can't travel?' 

' 'I don't care, I'll walk. I've got my pearl and I'll 
keep it until I get to market. My joy will keep me till 
then, and after that, my place will be among the princes.' 

"Here is the life of the lover of our Lord, from St. 
Paul, to now. 

"We have found the pearl! What does it matter 
what our lives are now? We do not count the ill be- 
tween here and the market. We are glad whatever 
happens, for we have the pearl, and nothing can rob 
us of that joy — for we have it where no man can steal it. 

"That is what we must preach and teach. We are 
glad today for the great joy we expect tomorrow. 

"The world lives for the present. 

"Hie Christian religion teaches us to live for the future ; 
but we must be patient." 



A Loyal Love. 97 

"Don't you think that such a love has a smattering 
of 'cupboard love' in it?" said his father. "A love of 
what you can get out of Christ, rather than Christ, Him- 
self? I call that an unworthy love." 

"I do not think there is any such thing as unworthy 
love. Christ redeemed us that we should enjoy His 
Kingdom — the pearl. His kingdom is all He has to give 
us. Can you measure its value? 

"St. Paul says: 'Looking unto Jesus, who, for the joy 
that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the 
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of 
God' — Any love of Christ is better than no love. 

"And, father, what do you think as to the coming of 
our Lord? A great many believe that the end is near. 
Do you feel that it is? 

"No man knows when the Son of Man is coming. 
Our Lord says the angels do not know; that He does 
not know, Himself. Why should it be now? Men have 
always thought this." 

"But He has told us when we may expect it. He 
had given us a sign, telling us that when we shall see 
these things come to pass we may know that He is at the 
doors. 

"These signs have all been fulfilled, every sign with 
the exception of one, — the sun and the moon dark- 
ened, and sometimes I think that that comet which God 
may send to wipe us out, may occasion the darkness of 
the sun by obstructing its light as it bears down upon 
us. It comes last, you know." 



98 A Loyal Love. 

"I do not think,*' said the father, "that you will find 
many people to believe your theory of the comet and the 
earth colliding, but God knows. We cannot tell. The 
world has got to be destroyed by fire, and that would be 
a merciful theory; the saved gone, and the worldling for 
destruction would never know what happened. Yes, 
this would be merciful, but it does not follow that it 
shall be now — it is such an old story." 

"Do you remember those warning words, father, from 
Christ, Himself: 'As it was in the day of Noe, so shall 
it be also in the days of the Son of Man. . . They did 
eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in 
marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark 
and then the flood came and destroyed them all.' 

"' 'And in the days of Lot they did eat, they drank, 
they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, but 
the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire 
and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.' 

"Father, it is very near, very near, and it will take 
us as unexpectedly as they of Sodom in the days gone by. 



"We have talked over my difficulties pretty thor- 
oughly. What is your opinion, father? 

"For myself, I do not know what to do. I cannot 
stay in my church, and I cannot ignore my church, in 
spite of all its failings and weaknesses and disobedience. 
I have no place of worship. I am an outcast, as it were, 
without one soul to sympathize with me in what is God's 
truth." 



A Loyal Love. 99 

"Well, my boy, you have taken me so much by sur- 
prise that I do not know whether I am standing on my 
head or my feet. Taking it all around, you are right. 
There is no use denying it; you are right. And what is 
to be done. I don't know. We must take time to think 
of it. 

"You cannot change the Church; they would laugh 
at you — call you a crank, sniff at you. That would be 
useless. If your love of Christ is sufficiently great to lead 
you to give up your Church on account of the reasons you 
give me, how would it be to preach a sermon giving your 
views in shortened form, telling your congregation what 
you have told me. If they will listen to you (which they 
will not), you will have made an impression, and you 
can cultivate that; and if not — well then — I don't know; 
I would wait a bit." 

"Father, I know my people too well. I say they are 
dear, but I do not think there is a particle of Christian 
religion in mp church. 

"But they have not been 'born again* and they will 
not hearken to love and humility. 

"I tell you the more I see of our religion, the more 
satisfied I am that very few people are born again, and 
you must be born again before you can get into the 
kingdom of God. Listen to what our Lord says: 

'* 'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be 
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' 

"In my small experience, I have never heard from 
the pulpit that there is such a thing as being 'born again/ 
unless it is in baptism. 



1 00 A Loyal Love. 

"Father, we are having this chat together; it is no 
use our hiding these things from ourselves; let us be 
honest. Christ has said pes, and we say no, and Christ 
has got the whip hand. There will be very few of us 
that get to heaven. 

"We can bolster each other up with false hopes, 
which we know must be false, until death comes, and 
instead of its being the end, it is the beginning of true life, 
the first day in the kingdom of God, and forever. 

"We have scorned Christ and He knows it, and 
has said to His apostles in warning: 

" 'Enter ye in at the straight gate; for wide 
is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth 
to destruction, and many there be that go in 
thereat, because straight is the gate and narrow 
is the way which leadeth unto life, and few 
there be that find it.' 

He knew what was coming and He warned His disci- 
ples. Christ knew how few would reach that heavenly 
kingdom. 

"By the way, father, did you ever tell your people 
what you know of heaven? Don't let people imagine 
that there is no solid ground; that they live in the clouds; 
that they have wings; that they have no bodies, but 
simply spirit. 

"Will my loved ones know me? Shall I meet my 
baby? Shall we talk to each other? Have we real 
bodies? Do we think in heaven as we do here? Do we 
sing all the time? and a thousand other foolish questions. 



A Loyal Love. 101 

It is ignorance. People do not like to ask these ques- 
tions, but they wanted to know all the same. 

"Tell them they will be men and women as they 
are now. We are led to believe that the change be- 
tween heaven and earth is not so great as we imagine. 
I think we shall be surprised to find how much alike 
heaven and earth are. 

"The main difference is that in heaven all is love, and 
on earth all is hate. That change, simple as it is, makes 
the difference; it turns the whole current of our lives 
from death to heaven. 

"But there is one thing to impress upon them: That 
the love you have borne to the children of Christ on earth, 
will follow them to heaven and there be cemented. 

"The love for Christ's sake will never fail, for it is 
riveted, and your love will be sweetened by the death of 
sin. 

"But remember, your bodies will be as they were on 
earth. Food and drink, sleep, enjoyment, ecstatic happi- 
ness, and, above all, your love for every soul in heaven, 
and the more you love, the nearer you are to God." 

"I have been strangely interested," said his father, "in 
what you have said. I was in the Church before you 
were born. I know the Church is wrong, and so wrong 
that it is beyond my reach. I have hoped that I was 
wrong or mistaken, but I can believe it no longer. It is 
absolutely impossible to change it now. It is in God's 



1 02 A Loyal Love. 

hands and God will deal with it, but where is the Lord 
to find his bride? 

"When you say that we are entirely to blame for 
it, I can see it now. 

"If the clergy had been true to their Lord, they would 
never have allowed the world to get such a power 
over it. 

"If a school is a failure, the master is a failure; it is 
not the boys." 

"Yes, it is Christ's bride that disappoints me. Fancy 
this world with its hatred and malice, being a bride for 
the loving and gentle Christ — and I want to be a party 
to that wedding — but father, where shall we go? 

"Have you seen a few verses written by Miss Ma- 
tilda C. Edwards, which I have only lately seen — and 
my heart goes to her, for I feel she agrees with me. You 
have not seen them? I have them in my pocket and I 
will read them to you. She calls them *The Church 
walking with the World:' 

The Church and the World walked far apart. 

on the changing shores of time; 
The World was singing a giddy song, 

And the Church a hymn sublime. 
"Come, give me your hand," cried the merry world, 

"And walk with me this way;" 
But the good Church hid her snowy hand, 

And solemnly answered, "Nay, 
I will not give you my hand at all, 

And I will not walk with you; 
Your way is the way of endless death; 

Your words are all untrue." 



A Loyal Love. 103 

"Nay, walk with me but a little space," 

Said the World with a kindly air; 
"The road I walk is a pleasant road, 

And the sun shines always there. 
Your path is thorny and rough and rude, 

And mine is broad and plain; 
My road is paved with flowers and gems, 

And yours with tears and pain. 
The sky above is always blue; 

No want, no toil I know; 
The sky above me is always blue; 

Your lot is a lot of woe. 

My path, you see, is a broad, fair path, 

And my gate is high and wide, — 
There is room enough for you and for me 

To travel side by side." 
Half shyly the Church approached the World, 

And gave him her hand of snow; 
The old World grasped it, and walked along, 

Saying, in accents low, — 
"Your dress is too simple to please my taste; 

I will give you pearls to wear, 
Rich velvet and silks for your graceful form, 

And diamonds to deck your hair." 

The Church looked down at her plain white robes, 

And then at the dazzling World, 
And blushed as she saw his handsome lip 

With a smile contemptuous curled. 
"I will change my dress for a costlier one," 



104 A Loyal Love. 

Said the Church with a smile of grace; 
Then her pure garments drifted away, 

And the World gave, in their place, 
Beautiful satins, and shining silks, 

And roses and gems and pearls; 
And over her forehead her bright hair fell 

Crisped in a thousand curls. 

"Your house is too plain," said the proud old World 

"I'll build you one like mine, — 
Carpets of Brussels, and curtains of lace, 

And furniture ever so fine." 
So he built her a costly and beautiful house — 

Splendid it was to behold; 
Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there, 

Gleaming in purple and gold; 
And fairs and shows in the halls were held, 

And the World and his children were there; 
And laughter and music and feasts were heard 

In the place that was meant for prayer. 

She had cushioned pews for the rich and the great 

To sit in their pomp and their pride, 
While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits, 

Sat meekly down outside. 
The angel of mercy flew over the Church, 

And whispered, "I know thy sin." 
The Church looked back with a sigh, and longed 
To gather her children in. 
But some were off in the midnight ball, 

And some were off at the play, 



A Loyal Love. 105 

And some were drinking in gay saloons; 
So she quietly went her way. 

The sly World gallantly said to her, 

"Your children mean no harm — 
Merely indulging in innocent sports." 

So she leaned on his proffered arm, 
And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers, 

As she walked along with the World; 
While millions and millions of deathless souls 

To the horrible pit were hurled. 
"Your preachers are all too old and plain," 

Said the gay old world with a sneer; 
"They frighten my children with dreadful tales, 

Which I like not for them to hear; 

They talk of brimstone and fire and pain, 

And the horrors of endless night ; 
They talk of a place that should not be 

Mentioned to ears polite. 
I will send you some of the better stamp, 

Brilliant and gay and fast, 
Who will tell them that people may live as they list, 

And go to heaven at last. 
The Father is merciful and great and good, 

Tender and true and kind; 
Do you think He would take one child to heaven 

And leave the rest behind?" 

So he filled her house with the gay divines, 
Gifted and great and learned; 



06 A Loyal Love. 

And the plain old men that preached the cross 

Were out of the pulpit turned. 
"You give too much to the poor," said the World; 

"Far more than you ought to do. 
If the poor need shelter and food and clothes 

Why need it trouble you? 
Go, take your money and buy rich robes, 

And horses and carriages fine, 
And pearls and jewels and dainty food, 

And the rarest and costliest wine. 

My children they dote on all such things, 

And if you their love would win, 
You must do as they do, and walk in the ways 

That they are walking in." 
The Church held tightly the strings of her purse, 

And gracefully lowered her head, 
And simpered, "I've given too much away; 

I'll do, sir, as you have said." 
So the poor were turned from her door in scorn, 

And she heard not the orphans' cry; 
And she drew her beautiful robes aside, 

As the widows went weeping by. 

So the sons of the World and the sons of the Church 

Walked closely hand and heart, 
And only the Master, who knoweth all, 

Could tell the two apart. 
Then the Church sat down at her ease and said, 

"I am rich, and in goods increased; 
I have need of nothing, and naught to do 



A Loyal Love. 107 

But to laugh and dance and feast.'* 
The sly old World heard her, and laughed in his 
sleeve, 

And mockingly said aside, 
"The Church is fallen — the beautiful Church — 

And her shame is her boast and pride!" 

The angel drew near to the mercy-seat, 

And whispered, in sighs, her name; 
And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed, 

And covered their heads with shame. 
And a voice came down, through the hush of heaven, 

From Him who sat on the throne, 
"I know thy work, and how thou has said, 

'I am rich;' and hast not known 
That thou art naked and poor and blind 

And wretched before My face; 
Therefore, from My presence I cast thee out, 

And blot thy name from its place!" 

"My boy, how dreadful that is! May God forbid! 
I have been in the Church since long before you were 
born and never until today have I recognized the power 
or importance or the absolute necessity in a Christian life, 
of these three things." 

"With these things the kingdom of God is ours, and 
without them we are lost — no matter who we are!" 

"I suppose I have gone on like most other men, teach- 
ing men to lead good moral and upright lives, to be 
virtuous, honest, generous, truthful, communicants and 
good churchmen. But love in the Church ! No — Nor yet 



108 A Loyal Love. 

humility, and my faith, was no faith. You have opened 
my eyes, my boy. I could not have believed it possi- 
ble. Why, the whole Christian religion is in that text, 

'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with 
all thy mind. This is the first and great com- 
mandment, and the second is like unto it, Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these 
tr»o commandments hang all the law and the 
prophets* 

It is love that embraces the whole thing. Here is the 
seed which bears all the rest, and love, instead of being 
a sinful thing, is the glory of God. I can say as 
Agrippa said to St. Paul, 'Almost thou persuadest me to 
be a Christian.' " 

"Well, my dear dad, I am so joyful. I did not 
expect this. Your sympathy makes a new man of me — 
and — ah! There is the dinner gong. Come, you dear 
old Dad, and let us have some dinner." 

"How true — 'my strength is made perfect in weak- 



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